this is absolutely the issue… the specific thing he did is irrelevant: you play by the rules, or you gtfo… it doesn’t matter how valuable your contributions are, if you can’t treat people with respect that leads to a toxic culture that eats at the project from the inside

linus was renowned for his insults… he realised (or was told; doesn’t matter at this point) that that behaviour was inappropriate, and his behaviour is now more tempered because it’s important to be able to ensure everyone feels like their work is valued and they’re not just shoveling shit for someone else

and i say this all as someone who is absolutely ecstatic about the prospect of bcachefs and think that his code is among the most important being contributed in the past years and for the next few years: WE NEED A NEW STABLE FILESYSTEM more than almost anything… but if you allow bad behaviour, it erodes the collaborative culture and you just can not allow that in the largest collaborative software project humanity has ever created