HN is meant for discussing articles that can spawn interesting conversations (see https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html). Interestingness is hard to define exactly, but at least it requires ideas or points of view that typical readers hadn't considered before. The discussion linked above fails on that count.
I empathize with the need for outrage. We all have it. But on a discussion site, outrage tends to take over and crowd out the interesting discussions, so HN is designed to put the wet blanket on outrage fests. Other sites like http://reddit.com/r/elonmusk allow them. If you use both sites judiciously, you can have the best of both worlds -- a place to vent and a place to think.
It's fine for Elon to disagree with someone. It's fine for anyone to disagree with anyone, frankly. It's not fine to disparage the hard work with such a tasteless and baseless accusation. I don't know how thin his skin is, but this hero will soon be just a moment in time; Elon will stick around. I'd hate to see what a balloon would do to Elon.
I'm probably more irritated with Elon's comment than most people here because I know what a pedophile is. You probably don't want to know how I know either. If someone blatantly molested, caressed, or otherwise violated your middle school-aged son or daughter, you'd be livid. That's what Elon is so baselessly accusing this man of, for no reason other than because he didn't get to use his little toy on the big stage for all the world to see.
Yes, there is a more general definition of pedophilia, but that definition is far lost on society. This isn't 2005 when gay "means" dumb.
He responded to it with libel, I hope to see a large public apology and 8 figure settlement very soon
Disappointed in the HN community today.