> if I were him I'd be annoyed as well.

Especially when he had to answer in the affirmative, that there is indeed a conflict of interest, but it's a really tiny one that hardly anyone would be bothered by.

Google has a well known, and well documented history of donating to open source projects to get their own products added as defaults. Combine with a for-profit company (RedHat) who does not disclose all of their financials (and that’s their prerogative), and it’s a perfectly reasonable question to ask.

The original question was stupid. We all get that. We’ve all suffered that on occasions at work. But that doesn’t justify his grossly unprofessional response.