[uluyol]

Around the time the CoC was being established, Linus went to therapy. If I recall correctly, some people had spoke to him about his behaviors and he decided to do something about it. I think it was done in private so it's unclear how much of it was pressure vs his own decision. His tone has become much less aggressive since.

[LtWorf]

He's been unpleasant also after he came back. Not as extreme maybe, but certainly not nice.

[tredre3]

Honesty is often unpleasant, especially when someone tells us that our work isn't good enough. But it is a required thing from a leader. The important thing is that he's cut down on needless personal insults.

[KennyBlanken]

No, it is not a "required thing." Furthermore, a leader should set an example and be aware of how their stature keeps others from providing feedback to them about their behavior. For example, cops in many departments are taught to work at being exceptionally polite on the road, because they won't get the "you're being an asshole" feedback the rest of us do. Nobody's going to honk at them or curse them out for cutting them off.

"This isn't good enough, your code is sloppy as shit" - you're being an asshole.

"We have a coding standards and conventions round commenting and formatting. I encourage you to rework your patch with that in mind and re-submit it, because at least on cursory examination, your code looks solid."

"Thank you for resubmitting. This is much more in line with what we prefer. Now we'll be able to take advantage of the work you've done to fix this problem."

[LtWorf]

But Linus isn't honest. I'm sure he thinks he is, but he's not always "objective". So while he thinks he's being honest, what he's saying can be untrue anyway.

And of course he's Linus and you're a nobody so nobody will ever listen to the other side of the completely subjective "facts"

[marcusb]

Being honest doesn’t have anything to do with being objectively correct, unless a person is presenting their subjective feelings as objective fact.

Saying to someone “your work is not good enough for me” is a subjective statement; whether or not it is honest depends on whether or not it is reflective of the speaker’s beliefs about the quality of the work.

A leader not speaking up when they receive subpar work is dishonest, and it is fundamentally unfair to the person doing the work.

[LtWorf]

Well I can be completely honest and tell you that the earth is flat. Do you see now that being objective is also needed?

[marcusb]

1) only if you truly believe the earth to be flat 2) the earth being a sphere is an objective fact that can be proven by multiple means.

You would either be mistaken if you believed the earth to be flat, or a liar if you didn't.

That also has absolutely nothing to do with your original claim -- that Linus has been "dishonest" because his opinions about technical matters discussed on LKML aren't objective. There is a fundamental difference between stating a fact ("the earth is a sphere") and an opinion ("this work is not up to my standards" or "I do not agree with your approach to solving this problem.")

Note: being rude in expressing their opinions might make a person an asshole, but it does not make them "dishonest."

[johnisgood]

He should get some tips from Theo. :D