[zeroname]

> There is a certain cost in time and energy required to separate yourself from harsh statements like that identify it as such.

It's not a "harsh statement", it's a joke. If anything it's flattering of that person's stature.

> While it's pretty easy to say, yes he's not suggesting physical abuse, the statement implies this guy is not going to cut me any slack, I can expect to get verbally attacked for missing something in my code, etc.

I don't think it implies that, but that's besides my point. The remark was represented as "advocating physical intimidation and violence", which given the actual context is basically libel. You're free to interpret anything you want about the personality of Linus from him making such jokes, but misrepresenting it like that in public is dishonest and harmful to discourse itself.

[cobar]

My bad, I had misread the comment the poster made and didn't see that the quote was there. I stand corrected.