> That he is so is not necessarily the cause of his success, and might even be invisibly detrimental to it.
I do not know him personally, but people who do know him comment that he is a nice, considerate, thoughtful person.
Linus has actually chimed into this metadiscussion in the past, basically saying something along the lines of "the audience is too big and too varied to be subtle. If I am not very explicit, someone will misunderstand this, usually as an invitation to keep wasting my time" (IIRC) -- which, having managed much much smaller projects, I tend to agree with and can only imagine how much more true this is an the Linux Kernel scale.
The Finns I know are all very direct "straight shooters" - I guess that's part of it.
> That he is so is not necessarily the cause of his success, and might even be invisibly detrimental to it.
From three decades in the industry, I would say it's likely contributing to his success (though, it is independent of the cause/origin of his success, which is being smart, diligent, persistent and lucky). The ability to cut down and through bullshit is IMO fundamental, and it seems impossible to do without occasionally being rude.
I do not know him personally, but people who do know him comment that he is a nice, considerate, thoughtful person.
Linus has actually chimed into this metadiscussion in the past, basically saying something along the lines of "the audience is too big and too varied to be subtle. If I am not very explicit, someone will misunderstand this, usually as an invitation to keep wasting my time" (IIRC) -- which, having managed much much smaller projects, I tend to agree with and can only imagine how much more true this is an the Linux Kernel scale.
The Finns I know are all very direct "straight shooters" - I guess that's part of it.
> That he is so is not necessarily the cause of his success, and might even be invisibly detrimental to it.
From three decades in the industry, I would say it's likely contributing to his success (though, it is independent of the cause/origin of his success, which is being smart, diligent, persistent and lucky). The ability to cut down and through bullshit is IMO fundamental, and it seems impossible to do without occasionally being rude.