LinuxCon Japan: Making kernel developers less grumpy

While I have always enjoyed Linus's (and others) diatribes as a sort of guilty pleasure, I believed he often went overboard and probably did more harm than good. However, in Linus's most recent infamous video in which he gives nVidia the proverbial birdy, he shared an example of why it was so important for him to speak his mind clearly, plainly, and loudly. People put a lot of effort into kernel patches, a whole lot. I would much rather be called an idiot by Linus (frankly there isn't much sting in that anymore, he calls everyone an idiot) than work for a year on something only to find out later he objects to the very concept of what I'm working on. He says it better in the video and I suggest watching for that and not getting distracted by the birdie if you haven't already watched it. It was quite insightful for me.