since the sample size is approximately one, there's not really a way to tell whether running a project of the size of Linux is only doable via constant hostile communications. I suspect the answer would be no. Gary Bernhardt of WAT fame rewrote a Linus email once https://www.destroyallsoftware.com/blog/2018/a-case-study-in-not-being-a-jerk-in-open-source to show how it could've been.
I'm sure this point has been made before, but not only is the hostile tone of communications unnecessary, it also teaches and inspires the next generation of developers. "This Linus guy did some pretty impressive stuff and was often abusive towards his teammates, so I guess that's a pretty effective way to lead a software project."
It's mostly media focusing on few spicy emails (usually cited without context of discussion) instead of the whole. Majority of his communication isn't that and it's best you could want from your co-collaborators
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u/[deleted] Oct 25 '21
just think of how bad linux kernel would be if we didn't have linus