There is much less swearing going on than in the last few rants. Usually that means Linus is extra serious.
edit:
More interestingly, he later explains his behaviour (and sort of apologizes for exploding): https://lkml.org/lkml/2018/8/3/727
edit:
More interestingly, he later explains his behaviour (and sort of apologizes for exploding): https://lkml.org/lkml/2018/8/3/727
I remember reading a chef (might have been Bourdain) who said something like when the head chef is shouting "Where the fuck is the fucking lamb you useless piece of shit" then things where basically on track, but if he calmly said "can you please hurry up with the starters for table 6 and 7" then he knew he was in deep trouble and really had to pick up his pace.
Even Linus recognises that "I just go ballistic" a bit later in the thread ;-)
I believe the exploding appearance was an intentional writing style. We reading it because a) it's Linus and b) he very clearly communicates his position to the point of being crass. It works and is stated in the opening: "Dammit. I haven't had to shout and curse at people for a while, but this is ABSOLUTELY THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE UNIVERSE WHEN IT COMES TO SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT"
Makes a clear statement AND expresses a clear tone. Was he teaching? Yes. Did he make his point? Yes. Was he calm? Behind the keyboard maybe. But in the email I'd wager he didn't want to look calm