I enjoy the argument because it’s a taboo, so nobody has a good argument. Nobody thinks it’s a real command. Nobody thinks for a moment Linus even wants that person dead. It’s Just Not How We Do Things here in Polite Society. We say “fuck you, c-loving geriatric” but “I can’t wait to see you in a grave, old man” is considered different even though the literal words are irrelevant. The speaker likely has no real interest in fucking the other coder, nor seeing them in a grave.

This amusingly puts it in precisely the same category as like, grandma being upset that their gkid won’t wear a bra or shave their pits.

But did you read the exchange this conversation is about? It sounds like you’re operating on month-old headlines.

Why? Are you concerned that the date/time widget author is going to kill themselves? Or do you just not like the concept and don’t think people should talk about it? Something else?

One of those options is unlikely and the other is just a taboo.