Torvalds Defends Linux Mailing List Insults, Demands Earned Respect

TFiR

Torvalds argues that open-source projects must prioritize technology over politeness, telling offended contributors to submit code elsewhere because respect must be earned rather than granted by default.

AI-assisted summary of Linus Torvalds on his insults: respect should be earned. — original source. Check the original for full context.

Source published: 2014-09-04

Key ideas

Linus Torvalds defended his abrasive communication style on public mailing lists, arguing that prioritizing political correctness can derail projects from focusing on technology. (0:00)
Torvalds highlighted open source flexibility over corporate settings, noting contributors can choose other maintainers since he personally works directly with only about 20 to 50 people among roughly 1,000 contributors per release. (1:06)
Torvalds asserted that respect must be earned rather than granted by default, accepting that some developers will choose not to work with him as a result. (3:15)

Detailed notes

## Background This video was published on YouTube by the channel TFiR on September 4, 2014. The page description highlights Linus Torvalds's belief that respect is not an automatic entitlement, but something that must be earned before he will grant it to anyone.

## TL;DR When confronted by an audience member about using extreme insults toward kernel contributors on public mailing lists, Linus Torvalds defends his conduct by affirming that technology matters far more to him than political correctness. Acknowledging that he is naturally abrasive due to his cultural background and family upbringing, Torvalds refuses to soften his honesty or reduce his standards. He notes that open source allows developers to route around people they dislike, emphasizing that out of roughly a thousand contributors per release, he personally interacts with only a small circle. Ultimately, Torvalds asserts that respect is never given by default and must be earned, making him unapologetic about alienating those who disagree with his style.

## Atmosphere & style The exchange carries a tense, candid energy as an audience member directly confronts Torvalds with quoted examples of his harshest rhetoric. Rather than deflecting or apologizing, Torvalds reacts with unflinching, conversational bluntness, occasionally leaning into dark humor while maintaining total conviction in his stance. The room feels charged and slightly divided, punctuated by scattered applause from attendees seeking baseline human courtesy, juxtaposed against Torvalds's calm, pragmatic refusal to compromise his standards.

## Bulletin - [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ017D_JOPY&t=0s) Linus Torvalds defended his abrasive communication style on public mailing lists, arguing that prioritizing political correctness can derail projects from focusing on technology. - [01:06](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ017D_JOPY&t=66s) Torvalds highlighted open source flexibility over corporate settings, noting contributors can choose other maintainers since he personally works directly with only about 20 to 50 people among roughly 1,000 contributors per release. - [03:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ017D_JOPY&t=195s) Torvalds asserted that respect must be earned rather than granted by default, accepting that some developers will choose not to work with him as a result.

## Key takeaways - [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ017D_JOPY&t=0s) An audience member raised concerns over Torvalds' harsh rhetoric toward patch contributors on public mailing lists. - [00:20](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ017D_JOPY&t=20s) Torvalds stated that his core priority is technology, warning that excessive concern with political correctness harms technical projects. - [00:50](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ017D_JOPY&t=50s) Torvalds welcomed open discussion of his communication style rather than avoiding the sensitive topic. - [01:06](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ017D_JOPY&t=66s) Torvalds attributes his abrasive nature to his cultural background and growing up in a dysfunctional family. - [01:25](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ017D_JOPY&t=85s) Coexistence in open source should not mean lowering standards to a common denominator to appease everyone. - [01:38](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ017D_JOPY&t=98s) Unlike traditional corporate environments with assigned bosses, open source allows contributors to choose who they collaborate with. - [01:55](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ017D_JOPY&t=115s) Across roughly 1,000 contributors per kernel release, Torvalds interacts directly with only about 20 to 50 developers. - [02:18](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ017D_JOPY&t=138s) Torvalds refuses to compromise his honesty to soften his abrasive personality. - [02:35](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ017D_JOPY&t=155s) Torvalds characterizes his extreme remarks and insults on mailing lists as dark humor and hyperbole rather than literal hostility. - [03:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ017D_JOPY&t=195s) In response to audience calls for baseline human respect, Torvalds argued that respect must be earned rather than given freely. - [03:38](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ017D_JOPY&t=218s) Torvalds accepts that people may disagree with his philosophy and choose not to associate with him. - [03:50](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ017D_JOPY&t=230s) The choice of collaboration goes both ways: just as contributors can avoid Torvalds, he also chooses not to work with certain individuals.

## Detailed walkthrough ### [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ017D_JOPY&t=0s) Public Mailing List Insults and Prioritizing Technology

An audience member opens the question by apologizing slightly, acknowledging that it is a sensitive but important topic: how does it affect a project’s community and culture when its leader tells patch contributors on public mailing lists that they should have been “retroactively aborted,” or expresses disbelief that they managed to survive childhood without starving to death because they were too stupid to find a teat to suck on? Linus Torvalds listens and immediately concedes that people might be put off by such rhetoric, but quickly clarifies his core priority: “I care about technology and I've actually seen projects that took the whole political correctness so far that the the project no longer is about the technology.”

Torvalds notes that in the end, he does not care about catering to polite sensibilities if it distracts from the work. As he notices a growing queue of incoming audience questions and jokes that they might need to start moderating them, he welcomes the discussion directly, assuring the audience that he has no problem addressing his communication style head-on.

[01:06](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ017D_JOPY&t=66s) Cultural Upbringing, Honesty, and Picking Collaborators in Open Source

Torvalds reflects on the origins of his temperament, describing himself openly as abrasive. He explains that he was raised in a culture that was far less concerned with political correctness than modern American culture, alongside growing up in a largely dysfunctional family. Because people naturally vary—some take offense easily while others cause it—he argues that coexistence cannot be achieved by reducing standards down to the lowest common denominator. Instead, he points out that unlike biological families, open source offers the distinct advantage of allowing individuals to choose their collaborators. Whereas employees in a corporate setting are stuck with their assigned bosses, open source developers have the freedom to navigate around personalities they dislike.

Torvalds notes that while roughly a thousand people contribute to each kernel release, he personally works directly with only about twenty people closely, and roughly fifty people more or less. He encourages anyone bothered by his personality to find another maintainer to submit code to, stating bluntly: “I'm not willing to be less honest because I know I'm abrasive.” He also addresses his extreme remarks—such as wondering aloud how someone survived to adulthood when they seem too stupid to feed themselves—framing them as obvious hyperbole and dark humor rather than literal hostility.

- **Direct working group**: Linus works closely with approximately 20 core people and interacts regularly with around 50 others. - **Scale of contributors**: Around 1,000 developers are involved in every Linux kernel release. - **Open source vs. commercial dynamic**: Open source permits contributors to choose their peers and route around leadership they dislike, unlike traditional corporate structures where workers are tied to a specific boss.

[03:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ017D_JOPY&t=195s) Respect Must Be Earned, Not Given

As audience members begin to press the point about basic human respect regardless of technical aptitude, the room reacts with scattered applause. Torvalds cuts through the reaction to lay out his personal philosophy on interpersonal dynamics, explaining that he refuses to treat people with baseline deference simply by default: “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.”

He insists that if someone has not earned his respect, they simply will not receive it, calling the rule “really that simple.” Torvalds acknowledges that not everyone shares this worldview, and he is entirely comfortable with people disagreeing or choosing not to associate with him. Just as contributors can walk away from him, he points out that the dynamic cuts both ways: there are certain individuals he refuses to work with as well.

## Notable quotes > [01:06](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ017D_JOPY&t=66s) I'm not willing to be less honest because I know I'm abrasive. — Linus Torvalds

> [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ017D_JOPY&t=0s) I care about technology and I've actually seen projects that took the whole political correctness so far that the the project no longer is about the technology. — Linus Torvalds

## Mentioned Linus Torvalds, Linux

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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.”

[Source](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ017D_JOPY)

中文简报

托瓦兹为Linux邮件列表中的辱骂辩护，称尊重必须靠实力赢得托瓦兹认为开源项目必须优先重视技术而非礼貌，并对感到被冒犯的贡献者表示可以去别处提交代码，因为尊重必须靠实力赢得，而非理所当然应当享有。当有现场观众就公开邮件列表中对内核贡献者使用极端辱骂之词提出质问时，林纳斯·托瓦兹（Linus Torvalds）为其行为进行了辩护，坚称在他眼中技术远比政治正确重要得多。托瓦兹承认由于文化背景和家庭成长环境，自己天生言辞生硬，但他拒绝收敛自己的坦率或降低标准。他指出，开源允许开发者避开他们不喜欢的人，并强调在每个版本的大约一千名贡献者中，他个人直接打交道的仅是一个很小的圈子。最后，托瓦兹断言尊重从来都不是默认给予的，必须靠实力去赢得，因此他对自己疏远那些不认同其风格的人毫不感到抱歉。林纳斯·托瓦兹为其在公开邮件列表中尖锐刻薄的沟通风格进行了辩护，认为将政治正确放在首位可能会让项目偏离对技术的专注。 (0:00) 托瓦兹强调了开源相较于企业环境的灵活性，指出贡献者可以选择其他维护者，因为在每个版本大约1000名贡献者中，他个人直接合作的只有大约20到50人。 (1:06) 托瓦兹断言，尊重必须靠实力赢得，而不是理所当然给予的，并接受一些开发者会因此选择不与他合作的结果。 (3:15)

Reading summary

Linux creator Linus Torvalds defends his abrasive mailing-list rhetoric, arguing that technical excellence supersedes polite sensibilities and asserting that respect must be earned rather than granted by default. Prioritizing Code Over Polite Sensibilities (0:00) Addressing criticism regarding extreme mailing-list remarks—such as telling patch contributors they should have been "retroactively aborted" or were too foolish to feed themselves—Torvalds concedes that such language can put people off. However, he insists that his core objective remains the technology itself. Torvalds claims he has witnessed other projects prioritize political correctness to the extent that technical focus was lost, and he refuses to dilute his directness to accommodate polite sensibilities. Torvalds characterizes his most severe insults as hyperbole and dark humor rather than literal hostility. Attributing his abrasive temperament to growing up in a dysfunctional family and within a culture far less concerned with modern American norms of political correctness, he maintains that he is unwilling to compromise his honesty to soften his delivery. Navigating Collaboration in Open Source (1:06) Torvalds argues that open-source development provides structural advantages over traditional corporate environments when dealing with difficult personalities. Unlike corporate employees who are forced to report to assigned managers, open-source contributors have the freedom to select their collaborators and route around leadership they dislike. This structural flexibility is reinforced by the division of labor in the Linux kernel project. Although roughly 1,000 developers contribute to each kernel release, Torvalds interacts closely with only about 20 core collaborators and roughly 50 individuals overall. Because of this buffer, he suggests that any contributor alienated by his conduct can simply submit patches to other maintainers instead of dealing with him directly. Respect as an Earned Metric (3:15) In response to arguments that participants deserve baseline human respect regardless of technical aptitude, Torvalds explicitly rejects unconditional deference. Stating that "respect should be earned," he asserts that individuals who have not earned his respect will simply not receive it. Torvalds acknowledges that his philosophy is controversial, but emphasizes that voluntary association functions bidirectionally. Just as external contributors are free to walk away from his leadership, Torvalds notes that he maintains his own boundaries and refuses to work with certain individuals. Torvalds resolves the conflict between community comfort and his abrasive style by relying on open source's decentralized structure, leaving interpersonal friction to be managed through voluntary disassociation rather than standardized politeness.

精炼阅读摘要

Linus Torvalds针对其在公开邮件列表中对代码贡献者言辞激烈的批评作出回应，强调技术本身始终高于人际礼节和政治正确，并明确主张在开源社区中“尊重必须靠争取获得，而非默认给予”。技术优先与反对过度政治正确 (0:00) 在面对现场观众关于其在邮件列表中使用极端言辞（例如讽刺贡献者应当被“追溯堕胎”或无法自理生存）对项目文化造成负面影响的质询时，Torvalds承认这类表达可能会让部分人感到反感，但他坚称自己的核心聚焦点始终是技术本身。Torvalds指出，一些项目由于过度追求政治正确，导致整个项目最终偏离了对技术本身的专注；他不愿为了迎合客套的人际情感而牺牲工作重心。针对外界对其尖锐沟通方式的质疑，他表示完全乐于正面讨论，并不打算回避这一话题。开源协作模式与个人沟通边界 (1:06) Torvalds将自己严厉、易怒的处事风格归因于个人背景，包括成长在一个相比现代美国文化更不注重政治正确的文化环境中，以及早年并不健全的家庭生活。他认为人与人之间的差异天然存在，社区不能为了求同而将标准降至最低公分母。与企业员工无法挑选上司的雇佣关系不同，开源软件的独特优势在于参与者可以自由选择协作对象。Torvalds指出，Linux内核每个版本大约有1000名开发者参与贡献，但他本人日常紧密对接的核心成员仅约20人，一般接触者约50人；他建议无法接受其沟通风格的贡献者直接绕开他，转而向其他维护者提交代码补丁。同时，Torvalds澄清那些极端言论属于明显的夸张修辞与黑色幽默，而非字面意义上的敌意，他绝不会因为自知性格暴躁而妥协表达上的诚实。尊重须凭实力争取而非天生享有 (3:15) 针对观众提出的“无论技术水平如何都应给予基本的人格尊重”的观点，Torvalds明确拒绝将尊重作为默认的人际预设。他主张，有些人认为尊重是与生俱来、理应获得的，但他坚信“尊重必须是通过自身表现争取而来的”，未赢得其尊重的人便无法得到这种认可。Torvalds坦承这种世界观并不被所有人认可，但他完全接受他人持有异议或选择不再与他交往，并强调这种双向选择在开源协作中是完全对等的——贡献者可以自行离开，而他同样保留拒绝与特定人员合作的权利。 Torvalds的辩护明确划分了“技术效率与个人诚实”同“包容性社群规范”之间的界限。尽管他将开源项目的分层架构视为化解沟通冲突的安全阀，但该访谈并未探讨这种强硬风格是否会在更广泛的潜在贡献者群体中形成准入门槛，其关于“尊重须靠争取”的原则依然是开源治理领域持续存在争议的核心命题。

Source quotes

[1:06] Linus Torvalds: I'm not willing to be less honest because I know I'm abrasive. [0:00] Linus Torvalds: I care about technology and I've actually seen projects that took the whole political correctness so far that the the project no longer is about the technology.

Original transcript

[0:00] I'm sorry to ask uh this question almost [0:03] but it's something that I think is a [0:04] little bit important um how do you think [0:07] it affects the culture of a community of [0:09] a project when the leader is on that [0:11] project's uh public mailing list telling [0:14] people in response to patch reviews that [0:16] they should be retroactively aborted [0:18] right uh and maybe that you're surprised [0:20] that they're still alive because they [0:22] should have starved to death when they [0:23] were children because they were too [0:24] stupid to find a pit to suck on I I [0:28] agree that some people might be put off [0:30] by that uh but on the other [0:37] hand you know what I in the end I don't [0:40] care right um I care about technology [0:43] and I've actually seen projects that [0:45] took the whole political correctness so [0:48] far that the the project no longer is [0:50] about the [0:51] technology um I actually [0:54] so [0:56] my oh wow we are getting more more [1:00] questions I think at some point we might [1:03] want to moderate them so my [1:06] take don't give me I I actually am very [1:09] happy to talk about this it's not a [1:11] problem for me um my standpoint has [1:14] always been that hey people are [1:16] different I'm [1:18] abrasive um I grew up in a culture that [1:21] I think is not quite as politically [1:22] correct as the culture especially in the [1:25] US [1:27] today um I also grew up in a family that [1:30] was largely dysfunctional so um I mean [1:33] so people are different and some people [1:36] take offense and some people give [1:38] offense and we all have to live together [1:40] but the living together is not by [1:43] finding some lowest common denominator [1:46] the living together and it has actually [1:48] been fairly successful is to try realize [1:51] that hey unlike your family you can [1:54] actually pick your friends and you can [1:58] pick the co-workers open source is [2:00] actually really good at that uh better [2:03] so than many commercial software [2:05] projects because in a commercial setting [2:08] you're kind of stuck with your boss in [2:10] open source find people you like find [2:14] people you like working with [2:17] um [2:18] I I work directly [2:23] with let's say 20 people closely and 50 [2:27] people more or less right there's every [2:30] release there's a thousand people [2:34] involved find somebody you like better [2:36] than me that that's fine right I'm not [2:39] willing [2:40] to be less [2:43] honest uh because I know I'm abrasive [2:46] right and quite often the [2:49] whole like when I say something like I [2:52] wonder how he grew to be an adult when [2:55] he's so stupid that he I don't expect [2:58] him to find food some people might [3:01] realize that it's kind of Hyperbole and [3:05] jokey I'm not I'm not um I'm not saying [3:08] something bad that you know it's not [3:10] politically correct or whatever although [3:11] certainly I I would understand if people [3:13] do say this it's more about um treating [3:16] other people with respect and maybe [3:18] saying technical you know what I mean [3:20] you can applaud everything you want but [3:22] I don't respect people unless I think [3:25] they deserve the respect there are [3:27] people who think that respect is [3:29] something that should be give it and I [3:30] happen to be one of the people who I'm [3:34] perfectly happy saying no respect should [3:36] be earned and without being earned you [3:39] don't get it right it's really that [3:42] simple and I not everybody agrees and [3:44] that's fine too right uh there are [3:48] people I refuse to work with [3:51] right it's it cuts both ways and and I [3:56] realize that right okay thank you