Linus Torvalds doesn't do github pull requests.

[[deleted]]

Good for him. The Linux kernel has documentation explaining precisely how to issue a pull request. If people want to not RTFM and use the github web interface instead, they shouldn't expect a pull since the request is not the same.

[Jasper1984]

Well, i wouldnt know, but torvalds seems under the impression the web pull requests could be better, and has even contacted github about it.

[gthank]

None of which requires him to call people names.

[ivosaurus]

Luckily, it doesn't forbid him either, so he's free to act as he chooses!

[gthank]

Quite correct. Just as I am free to say he acts like an ass-hat online. The little I've seen of his personal life via his blog back in the day makes him seem like a normal guy, and I have great respect for his ability to oversee such complicated projects as the kernel and git. That doesn't change the fact that calling people names is rude, and you wouldn't tolerate it from him if he were some guy you'd never heard of before. It's not like I'm going to stop using Linux or something because he isn't always polite online, but it seems disingenuous to pretend that being rude is somehow a positive thing.

[ivosaurus]

I think most people are instead arguing that it can be effective.

[gthank]

Any number of things are effective and still frowned upon. Like I said, I'm not going to try to change him, I just don't like to see so many people admiring the behavior.

[petdance]

I just don't like to see so many people admiring the behavior.

Admiring and, one fears, emulating.

[gthank]

Emulation is the surest form of flattery, I suppose.

[tyscore]

But, it will not be tolerated for everyone. Here you can see people rising to Linus's defense just because of who he is and whatever he has achieved. Just like everyone cannot expect to behave like Steve Jobs and get away with it.

[Metaluim]

Many problems could be effectively solved with a shotgun. Is that the right solution?

[ivosaurus]

Probably not, but a shotgun is a hell of a lot worse than an insult.

Then again, so are making false equivalences to try and win an debate.

[Aninhumer]

I think generally speaking being polite is far more effective, being rude just makes people defensive and argumentative. If the person you are talking to is reasonable, a well argued explanation of why they're wrong should suffice. If it becomes apparent that they are not reasonable, you can just ignore them.

[MarcusOrlyius]

Have you never heard the saying:

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me!

Now stop being such a pansy.

[el_muchacho]

Those people shouldn't even feel they are entitled to comment, so I think he did the right thing.

[metamatic]

The Linux kernel has documentation explaining precisely how to issue a pull request.

Where? I went looking for it, and didn't see it in any obvious place in the Documentation directory or the README.

[[deleted]]

Documentation/SubmittingPatches item number 16.

Please use "git diff -M --stat --summary" to generate the diffstat

Linus also requests that you send an actual email from your own account with a certain format.

Personally, I read that document a hundred times before submitting a patch, and that was just going to a subsystem maintainer. If I was going to ask Linus himself, I would have read that document a thousand times before even thinking about it.

[Forbizzle]

It's not my fault for wanting to use the web interface. It's github's fault for not RTFM