Skip to content
0:00 / 0:00

#linustorvalds#linux#opensourceculture

Linus Torvalds on his insults: respect should be earned.

TFiR

31K subscribers • 4 videos on Hallway

YouTube
  • Recommended by 1 person: 1 on Hacker News.
  • Presented by Linus Torvalds, creator of Linux
  • An opinion. It argues one side of a question engineers disagree on.

Beginner. No background in the topic needed.

719K views12 years ago1 recommendation

Tools and practiceCareers and interviewsOpen sourceCode review and teamworkThe tech industry

Linus Torvalds explains his philosophy that respect must be earned and defends his blunt, sometimes insulting communication style in open source.

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: tfir.io/dnl Become a patron of this channel: patreon.com/TFIR Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/tfir_io Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/TFiRMedia/ Linus Torvalds: “I don't respect people unless I think they deserve the respect. There are people who think that respect is something that should be given, and I happen to be one of the people who is perfectly happy saying no respect should be earned. And without being earned, you don't get it. It's really that simple.”

Why it's here

1 person recommends this

What people say. Linked in discussions about communication styles, manners, and maintaining technical excellence in open source projects.

yeukhonon Hacker News • Recommends

On “Linus Torvalds: “Somebody is pushing complete garbage for unclear reasons.””

…on. That being said, it almost seems like no one other than him, can do a better job in keeping up with the quality if he has to be the one yelling all the time. When Linus is no longer involved (for any reasons), can Linux kernel project continues to have quality code? A couple years ago Linus shared his views on insult: respect should be earned. link to this video Worth watching.…

mreilandon Hacker News • Mentions

On “New Hacker News Guideline: Avoid Gratuitous Negativity”

link to this video But I honestly fall into the other camp that believes respect should be given freely. BUT that lasts until you open your mouth and say something stupid. I've had "discussions" with people about whether or not MAtz Ruby had a GIL. You don't get my respect for holding that opinion and I have better things to do with my time than worry about your feelings. There's a clear difference between someone with a differing opinion and someone with a flawed thought process. I'm ok with a person telling me C++ is the most horrible thing since sliced bread despite my love for the language. I'm not ok with someone telling me allocation/deallocation in C++ is slower than C# because some article on t…

nickbaumanon Hacker News • Mentions

On “Software development: do good manners matter?”

…tingly, was born from his time serving in the Finnish military. Could Linux be even better if he dropped this mentality? Maybe. He insists that by being rude you stop tacit political behavior which would undermine technical excellence. But this seems contradictory. Management by perkele is by definition a form of tacit politics. Torvalds position: link to this video Other points of interest: link link…

fermienricoon Hacker News • Mentions

On “Linus Torvalds: “Somebody is pushing complete garbage for unclear reasons.””

Of all replies defending Linus I've read, this one hits home run. Linus himself admits1 that his outrageous insults are sort of "jokey" and a hyperbole. That's the surface. The underlying tone is to get attention without getting drowned by political correctness. 1 link to this video