What happened with Eich was not criticism any more, rather a full blown witch hunt, complete with forks and fire.
The internet has become too much of 4chan the last few years.
The internet has become too much of 4chan the last few years.
Whether or not those causes lead to escalation seems to depend on the subject matter and participants, just like anything else really.
The most recent example was someone suggesting putting a famous woman's face on the next UK pound note and getting such threats.
Borders to extortion or unfair competition, in my eyes.
Eich wasn't the CEO of 'JavaScript', so that's not really the same thing, is it?
It's also much easier being an homophobe engineer rather than a homophobe CEO, because of the nature of the role. His technical achievements can be as impressive as you want and have no relation to his homophobia; being CEO is a role built on public relationships inside and outside the company, relationships that would be severely influenced by his (perceived) homophobia.
The only thing I've seen that 'crossed the line' so to speak was the okcpuid thing urging users to stop using Firefox. I didn't see exactly what the message was. It sounded more like a marketing stunt to get some media attention. I think if it had been other people/companies targeted then people on HN would have been applauding their disruptive and entrepreneurial marketing department.
There once was a day when "witch hunt" actually referred to strapping live human beings to kindling and setting them ablaze.