[moe]

You can embarrass yourself without feeling it, watch a political debate sometime.

And yes, in my head I do feel embarrassed for him when I see him lowering himself to name-calling over such a trivial issue.

I have no problems with salty language between equal opponents or when the other side is clearly malicious. In this case the opponent is such a pity that it feels akin to someone slapping a 5yr old for scratching their lamborghini.

[tertius]

I don't and wouldn't use the language that he did.

But what he said was true. This wasn't ad hominem because it wasn't an argument. The argument is clear, Curebit stole, and have apologized. Therefore his reaction is not an attack but an accurate label.

Whether it is "professional" or not is a different story.

[ericd]

I don't know about that, the founders of Curebit are old enough to be held responsible for their actions. A 5 year old, not so much.

[ahoyhere]

A 5-year-old who is probably actually in his 20s, just got $1.2 million in funding, and said "yeah I stole, but it was only up for a week, and only a test, lesson: if I steal, give credit"?

Please. If we're going to hold an intelligent debate, you need to work on your analogies.

[moe]

I think the funding reflects more on the investors than anything else.

And the level of incompetence at play here is precisely what makes DHH's reaction feel so out of place. Without thinking anyone could come up with a dozen classy ways to play the situation. Instead he chose the one that makes himself look less than ideal...