Why Linus Torvalds Insults People
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1z_Chhbl1-g
- Reviewed clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ017D_JOPY
Prime reacts to an old conference Q&A clip where Linus Torvalds defends his abrasive communication style on the Linux kernel mailing list.
The setup
An audience member (apologetically) asks Linus how his insults affect community culture, citing his infamous lines that a patch author “should be retroactively aborted” and was “too stupid to find a tit to suck on”. Prime is stunned by the intensity of the burn, and also mocks the questioner for prefacing everything with “sorry” — saying sorry before doing the thing means you're not sorry.
Linus's defense
- “In the end, I don't care” :: Some people are put off — fine. He cares about the technology, and has seen projects where political correctness took over and the project stopped being about technology. He's abrasive, grew up in a less politically-correct culture (Finland) and a dysfunctional family.
- Pick your collaborators :: Unlike a job, open source lets you choose who you work with: “Find somebody you like better than me, that's fine. I'm not willing to be less honest.” Prime calls this “shockingly a good take” — camaraderie matters more than money or notoriety for long-term motivation.
- “It's hyperbole, joking” :: Linus claims the insults are jokes. Prime doesn't buy it: “Ain't no way that was a joke.”
- Respect is earned :: Not given by default. There are people Linus refuses to work with, and it cuts both ways.
Prime's take
- Blunt feedback works :: His own formative moment was someone telling him “your change sucks, go fix it right now” — not gentle hand-holding. Made him take work more seriously.
- Code vs person :: Harsh criticism of bad code is fine and necessary (“you should be able to say this is bad”); insulting the person is not. Human dignity and technological prowess are separate categories.
- Benefit of the doubt ≠ respect :: Don't grant technical respect by default, but do grant benefit of the doubt — assume the person is capable until shown otherwise.
- Respect is demonstrably earned :: A PR from Linus vs one from “EdgeLord69420” gets different scrutiny. Everyone does this; claiming otherwise is dishonest.
- Right to offend :: Agrees with chat: “you have the right to be mean, the receiver has the right to be offended — you don't have the right to never be offended.”
- Respect vs courtesy :: Chat debates the word “respect”; Prime reframes — what people actually mean is courtesy/politeness/civility, which he fully endorses, distinct from earned respect.
Takeaways
- Criticize code harshly if needed; never insult the person.
- Technical respect is earned; benefit of the doubt is free.
- Open source superpower: choosing collaborators you enjoy — the strongest part of Linus's argument.
- Linus later apologized for years of being a jerk; Prime sees that as growth (“people change, that's pretty cool”) while still agreeing with much of his substance.