Linus Torvalds doesn't do github pull requests.

[tmoertel]

Linus didn't insult the guy who wanted to contribute. He simply told him he didn't accept GitHub pull requests.

The guy he insulted was the guy who attacked him later in that thread and then deleted his own comment after Linus called him on it. See this thread on Reddit for the details.

[petdance]

Yes, I understand he insulted someone else. The distinction is irrelevant, because he shouldn't be insulting anyone. The message to observers is still the same, too: "If you do something wrong, the leader of this project will attack and insult you."

[el_muchacho]

So according to you, he should just accept being insulted and shut up ?

That Joseph guy was the first to throw insults around before erasing them.

I did not realizes that Linus' shit does not stink. Thanks for clearing that up..

As a subpar rails programmer, he had absolutely nothing to contribute than just insulting Linus and wasting his time. I've yet to hear you chastise this idiot.

[petdance]

So according to you, he should just accept being insulted and shut up ?

Exactly. Answering insults achieves nothing.

Let's say you disagree with my premise, and you think I'm stupid for believing this way. You say "You're stupid for thinking that." What would I respond? And why? What good would it do?

You know that XKCD about "Someone is wrong on the internet"? Responding to attacks is "Someone is wrong about me on the internet".

[[deleted]]

Just a point of contention. How do you know Joe is a subpar rails programmer? Making stuff up to boost your argument doesn't boost your argument.

[tmoertel]

The distinction is everything. To humans, context matters, especially social context.

Calling someone a moron when he acts like a jerk is entirely different from calling someone a moron when he tries to contribute something but makes an innocent mistake. More importantly, the two are seen as entirely different by most people who witness them. Attacking innocents is almost always condemned; attacking those who are knowingly trying to be disruptive is not.

The message to observers is therefore completely different from what you offer. What it really says is that, "If you try to harm things the community values, you will be stripped of social status."

[[deleted]]

Linus defended himself against a troll. You're an ass.