[ralfn]

In military terms Linus is the president of his world (the Linux kernel).

In the military with all the hierarchy this wouldn't happen because no small private would be arrogant enough to throw their opinion in the top generals and president face without being asked.

The whole point of the rudeness is that it does give space for people to voice their opinion irregardless of their rank. Only at the risk of being somewhat insulted.

[alexkrycek]

The point is that swearing is not equal to honesty. It's just additional emotional metadata.