[Bostonian]

Looking at the first two, pasted below, I'd say the 2nd is harsh but that the 1st is genuinely wrong. You can say that someone is not a good enough programmer for you to work with. Saying that they are stupid and should never have been born is beyond the pale.

Kay, this needs to be fixed. ... Of course, I'd also suggest that whoever was the genius who thought it was a good idea to read things ONE FCKING BYTE AT A TIME with system calls for each byte should be retroactively aborted. Who the fck does idiotic things like that? How did they noty die as babies, considering that they were likely too stupid to find a tit to suck on? 0.621010024824

So get your act together, and push back on the people you are supposed to manage. Because this is not acceptable for post-rc5, and I'm giving this single warning. Next time, I'll just ignore the sh*t you send me. Comprende? 0.701378112737

[guenthert]

Sure, particularly the first one is unacceptable and I'm sure, if Mr. Torvalds could remove all instances of those he would. I understand a bit the rage, reading a byte a time using system calls has been a well known anti-pattern for a looong time. His rant reads a bit like letting of steam in a semi-private conversation among like-minded peers, like a chat room of a BBS. Of course, when asked, Mr. Torvalds would have then known that the lkml is publicly accessible and archived and for the whole world to see for an indefinite time. However I wonder, whether he truly was aware of that, when writing such.

[h2odragon]

I wont rehash the arguments about hyperbole for emphasis etc; even Linus has said he went too far sometimes.

I'll just say that I personally would not take that comment as out of bounds or even as offensive in the context it was delivered. I've done things that stupid, and might not have realized how stupid it was until it was pointed out. Or maybe i had a reason for doing it that way and could fire back as much flame in explaining that.

People keep posting this one: https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/oh-my-fucking-god-get-th... .... is this attempt at humorous over the top hyperbole "beyond the pale" as well? Does the subject of the rant matter? Concrete technical issues are beyond emotion and enjoyment?

[klyrs]

I've reviewed code that bad, and even muttered invectives about stupidity under my breath, but never let my bewilderment turn into a vicious attack. When I encounter code that's as awful as all that, I ask questions. Do you know of (blank) alternative, did you test this code, are you aware of this consequence. Then, I make a pronouncement; this code is not up to standard and I won't accept it unless the above are fixed, or if it's utterly incomprehensible, I'll say that I cannot see a path forward. Bottom line, the code is defective, there's no reason to make it personal.

If Linus was viewed as less than a god, I think more people in our community would recognize this sort of tirade as ad hominem and they would be ridiculed as such.

[guenthert]

Ah, c'mon. Nobody views Mr. Torvalds as god. He's just an extraordinarily competent, productive, persevering and outspoken engineer, who manages to motivate others to contribute to the projects he started. He sadly is or was also a bit insensitive, but he clearly wasn't alone in that, nor the worst. Remember that Alan Cox, when describing the difference between him and Mr. Torvalds, considered him 'neat'.

[klyrs]

> Nobody views Mr. Torvalds as god.

You might want to google "Linux Torvalds god" and reconsider that. The word "god" is being used hyperbolically, nobody thinks he's responsible for Creation, but the meme wouldn't stick if it didn't resonate with folks.

[coverband]

I’m bothered by the fact that the linked McSweeney’s essay thinks piranhas live in the ocean.