this post was submitted on 10 Aug 2025
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Sure, I never said otherwise, but the problem is usually that people are so blinded by his being a tech leader that they excuse his behavior. Seriously, imagine this was literally anybody else, they'd get booted from their position faster than you can say "motherfucker"
Yeah, that's what I mean. It's possible to acknowledge his genius as well as call out his shitty behavior. We can and should do both.
He's just guarding the fort. I'd rather he not be a pushover.
You can guard the fort effectively without being an asshole. I admire Torvalds for his work, but his behavior is still awful.
The world sits on his shoulders and there are people actively trying to dismantle his work. He has every right to me an asshole.
I didn't see that in the business world. Assholes who were right did fine. Assholes who were wrong got booted. Nice guys that were wrong got promoted to management.
Definitely not to excuse it, but I think this is a not uncommon pattern in tech leaders. I recall hearing stories of profanity-laden rants to employees about their bad code by both Bill Gates and Steve Jobs during their leadership of Microsoft and Apple. It's inexcusable behavior no matter when or where it occurs, but I don't think Linus Torvalds is a unique case for getting a pass.