On Wed, Oct 7, 2015 at 10:52 PM, Daniel and Elizabeth Case
<[email protected]> wrote:
> >Collaborating on software (or
> encyclopedias) is a social process, and basic civility goes a long way 
> towards lubricating social processes. >I also don't buy Linus's argument that 
> being professional is being fake. No one is asking Linus to wear a suit and 
> tie and use marketing >buzzwords. They're just asking him to chill out and 
> not be an asshole. Of course he's welcome to act out his "normal urges", as 
> he puts >it, but I don't think he's doing any favors for the cultural health 
> of the free software movement.
>
> I really wonder if we’re looking at this backward. It almost sounds from your 
> interpretation that Linus (whom in fairness I have never met or interacted 
> with, not least because I’m not a Linux groupie, so I can’t speak to the 
> truth of this) seems to have founded an open-source software community as a 
> place for people, uh, “on spectrum” to hang out online and work together on 
> something in their preferred way, rather than had the idea for Linux and 
> then, well, all these people just happened to gravitate to it.

"Abusing people they have power over" isn't a behavior that's linked
in any way to being on the autism spectrum, and I've not seen any
mention that Linus self-identifies as being on the spectrum, so let's
please refrain from Diagnosing People Via The Internet :) There's a
great Geek Feminism Wiki on this particular argument:
http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Autism_is_to_blame

What Linus has stated publicly, however, tells the story:

"I am a lazy person, which is why I like open source, for other people
to do work for me [...] I like to sit on the beach with a floofy drink
and let you guys do all the work... I’m coasting, right now I’m
coasting—I don’t have any projects I’m working on."

from 
http://arstechnica.com/business/2015/01/linus-torvalds-on-why-he-isnt-nice-i-dont-care-about-you/

"I love open source and how all the credit comes to me"

from 
http://www.eweek.com/enterprise-apps/linus-torvalds-talks-linux-security-at-linuxcon.html

These are the words of someone who's happy to be a jackass to others,
giddy with the power he has over them, all the while profiting off
their work - not those of someone who's on the spectrum.

-Leigh

-- 
Leigh Honeywell
http://hypatia.ca
@hypatiadotca
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