> Surely Linus Torvalds has said meaner things at some point on a listserv.

It boggles the mind why people keep using Linus as an excuse to justify rudeness. Linus apologised, he recognised what he did for years was not OK, and took time off to reflect and become a better person.

> Seems like the HN mob is just as capricious as the author in deciding who gets as pass or not.

Are all the people who commented in that submission commenting on this one? No? Then it’s not the same group of people, and opinions are different. There’s no “mob”, HN isn’t a hive mind. If it were, you’d be part of it and agree.