Ed Moltzen

The Chart

April 07, 2008

Linus Torvalds, the recognized leader of the Linux developer community, has never been accused of pulling punches when he argues back and forth with other developers. His habit of blunt, critical language has turned up again but in a way that may make some people wince.

In the midst of a back-and-forth online discussion with a pro-Intel techie at the web site of Real World Technologies, in a discussion over processor performance, Torvalds mocked his counterpart this way:

Are you the kind of person who was really happy when you got

the "most improved" plaque while sitting at the back of the short bus for the "special kids"?

Because that's what your argument boils down to.

Linus

(The email address used for that and multiple posts is Torvalds'. To double-check that someone didn't just spoof his address, and pretend to be him, I sent Torvalds an email asking if that was his writing. He hasn't yet answered.)

Though Torvalds is recognized as an industry leader, he has traditionally been treated a little differently than other industry leaders. Could Bill Gates have said what Torvalds said, and gotten away without criticism? Sam Palmisano, chairman and CEO of IBM? Steve Jobs (the real one)?

In later posts on that same thread, Torvalds did explain that he enjoys taking on others in debate: "And yes, I really do like arguing. It took you this long to notice? I love to have people disagree with me, as long as they can put a cogent argument together. Sometimes I even love being shown to be totally wrong."

By dragging the image of handicapped kids into, of all things, an argument over processor performance, Torvalds may get just that.