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by chrisseaton 1751 days ago
> And why would he need to go stronger?

If he uses his strongest reaction for normal work-day issues like drivers and interface design, where does he go for any potential existential community issues we face in the future?

If something comes up that threatens the future of Linux, and he swears and threatens as usual while trying to warn people about it, nobody will care because 'ah yeah that's just normal Linus'.
1 comments
Dylan16807 1751 days ago
Does he threaten people? And the people that aren't just bystanders will read the thing he says, he doesn't need to punch it up to attract a crowd.
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chrisseaton 1751 days ago
> Does he threaten people?

He uses personal abuse against people. Not sure that counts as 'threatening'.

Really we should always challenge any kind of abuse.

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Dylan16807 1750 days ago
When that happens it is bad, yes.

But you're also arguing that he needs to be able to get scarier when necessary, which is a weird thing to argue at the same time?

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chrisseaton 1750 days ago
> But you're also arguing that he needs to be able to get scarier

No I'm not. The opposite.

If the only tool you know how to use is abuse, then when you need more all you can do is abuse more and more, to the point where you are literally encouraging people to kill themselves.

If you learn other tools you can use them instead when needed and they have an impact.

If I heard Mister Rogers say something was extremely serious I’d stop and listen because he’s a calm and reasonable person. If I heard Linus telling another person to kill themselves I’d think it was him being terrible again but I wouldn’t take notice of what he’s trying to say because he uses that kind of abuse for minor things anyway.

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Dylan16807 1750 days ago
> If the only tool you know how to use is abuse, then when you need more all you can do is abuse more and more

"If", yes.

Is your argument that because he put abuse into emails, that he must not know any of those other tools? I don't think you've justified that argument.

He could use the same tools anyone else could, in those situations.

And you're still saying that he might "need more" in certain situations, and I don't think he does. He doesn't need to instantly catch your attention via acting unusual. Much like Mr. Rogers would do just fine at telling you about something serious if he used his normal voice / normal presenting voice.

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