> Unfortunately this is true. Matz is nice so we are nice. Abusiveness
> and bad manners are inappropriate.

Maybe so, but IMHO directness is often interpreted as abusiveness or bad 
manners. I personally appreciate Austin's directness, and that of many 
others (although it would probably sting if it were me on the receiving 
end:) Then again, I usually try very hard to do my research before I 
post a (technical) opinion. Sometimes I post in haste and get slammed; I 
usually deserve it.

Some very smart or successful (or both) people were and are considered 
by many to be rude or abusive (for example, Theo de Raadt, Charles 
Babbage, Eric Raymond, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Richard Stallman). 
I'm sure there are many reasons for this; still, one thought is that 
people like these get incredibly frustrated by receiving opinions that 
are not based on much (or any) due diligence, and questions that have 
been asked (and answered) a million times and are usually easy (or at 
least possible) to find using Google. One's patience would imaginably 
wear very thin when the signal to noise ratio of posts or emails is 
regularly low. Then again, sometimes people *are* just plain rude.

Bottom line is, I agree with ESR:

"Much of what looks like rudeness in hacker circles is not intended to 
give offense. Rather, it's the product of the direct, 
cut-through-the-bullshit communications style that is natural to people 
who are more concerned about solving problems than making others feel 
warm and fuzzy."

My 2c.

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