Perhaps I’m confused. I’ve never seen or heard Torvalds act in the manner you describe. In interviews, and talks, at least, I’ve seen him be quite self-deprecating, quite deferential, and quite humble. He just doesn’t put up with bullshit in the space he knows extremely well, and he’s very direct with little regard to being empathetic, or at least that’s how he’s acted in the past on the Linux mailing lists. Being matter-of-fact can often be misconstrued as acting superior, but I’ve found it’s usually a time-saving personality quirk.
Edit>> Clearly this guy is unable to understand what being matter of fact is and resorts to ad hominem when someone doesn’t share his opinion. Sad, really, but pretty normal for the internet, I suppose. Oh well.
Right, this happens with me all the time (though I suppose I don’t require the use of swear words, but I do use them quite a bit, just not when speaking professionally). People take my matter-of-fact personality as being arrogant. I’m really not, or I actually try not to be, but I can understand how things can come across when not mincing words. I suspect Torvalds doesn’t like making useless small talk, either, which is a trait of this kind of personality. I can wholly relate to that and how people might perceive him. But I do not feel, as the person I replied to had written, Torvalds “lets you know” that he’s “the smartest person in the room” in any instance I’ve ever seen him speak.
I get involved later on and say: ‘Christ this is horribly ugly code, how could you ever accept this?’
That’s a direct example of him acting like the smartest man in the room, and letting you know, straight from the link that was provided. He’s most likely right, but there are ways of stating that diplomatically. That’s not matter-of-fact, that’s just being arrogant. If you can’t see that, and you also find that people consider you arrogant, maybe you should consider talking to a professional about that.
Perhaps I’m confused. I’ve never seen or heard Torvalds act in the manner you describe. In interviews, and talks, at least, I’ve seen him be quite self-deprecating, quite deferential, and quite humble. He just doesn’t put up with bullshit in the space he knows extremely well, and he’s very direct with little regard to being empathetic, or at least that’s how he’s acted in the past on the Linux mailing lists. Being matter-of-fact can often be misconstrued as acting superior, but I’ve found it’s usually a time-saving personality quirk.
Edit>> Clearly this guy is unable to understand what being matter of fact is and resorts to ad hominem when someone doesn’t share his opinion. Sad, really, but pretty normal for the internet, I suppose. Oh well.
Torvalds has a great character and is humble, though because of his “straightforward” personality he has a reputation of being hotheaded and arrogant. For example: Torvalds: I want to be nice, and curse less, but it’s just not in me
Right, this happens with me all the time (though I suppose I don’t require the use of swear words, but I do use them quite a bit, just not when speaking professionally). People take my matter-of-fact personality as being arrogant. I’m really not, or I actually try not to be, but I can understand how things can come across when not mincing words. I suspect Torvalds doesn’t like making useless small talk, either, which is a trait of this kind of personality. I can wholly relate to that and how people might perceive him. But I do not feel, as the person I replied to had written, Torvalds “lets you know” that he’s “the smartest person in the room” in any instance I’ve ever seen him speak.
That’s a direct example of him acting like the smartest man in the room, and letting you know, straight from the link that was provided. He’s most likely right, but there are ways of stating that diplomatically. That’s not matter-of-fact, that’s just being arrogant. If you can’t see that, and you also find that people consider you arrogant, maybe you should consider talking to a professional about that.