I've seen posts here on HN lambasting Torvalds for being abusive, but on further examination, it was around comment #130 in a thread where he'd patiently and politely explained his point of view four times already in that thread, and was still hitting a brick wall with someone wilfully ignoring his points. Of course, this prelude wasn't indicated in the 'linus is an arsehole' tone of the story, it was linked directly and out of context.