This email was an entirely appropriate response to one of the most commonly-seen selfish and rude mailing list posts in software development.

"Hi guys, I know you've been working for years on this! I haven't really bothered to look at your code, or understand the principles of operation, but I have strong opinions about How Things Should Be Done and I'm here to tell you how to run your project."

The reason Theo himself replies to this sort of thing, and in this sort of fashion, is to make it absolutely clear (both to this imbecile and anyone who seeks to emulate him) that the people who want this sort of thing are wrong and will be wasting their effort in asking for it.

I don't think an email like that is ever appropriate. It's immature and childish, regardless of how foolish the initial inquiry was. There are certainly people who can provoke that kind of reaction, but since I don't know any backstory I have to go on what I read at the link. Here's an interesting truth: as your software achieves greater levels of use and success you come into contact with more, not fewer, clueless people with strong opinions. You going to tell all of them they are idiots? I assume so. Think about the impression others get when they come upon stuff like this in the archive, before you go cheering on such behavior. I have nothing bad to say about OpenBSD or the people who run the project, but reading a reply like that makes me wince.

> I assume so. Think about the impression others get when they come upon stuff like this in the archive

I loved this mail, and it's actually making OpenBSD stand out as a human project, because it's not riddled with indecipherable political correctness. You can feel there are people involved, that they didn't copy-pasted a template but actually thought out their words, you can feel the involvement of the people. On the other end of the spectrum a smiley would also make the project more human, closer to the people. This mail also serves as a warning to future people who will want to engage a similar path of "I don't know anything, but I think things should be done This Way" to actually think about it. A net advantage.

Yes, the mail is harsh; that doesn't mean countrygeek should have a problem with it. The latter can (and should) absolutely go back to the research part, try to understand what he asks for, and then come back with a plan. That is what is really asked from the kind of people in the same position.

The problem for me isn't the lack of "political correctness", but the weirdness of being so angry about someone being wrong on the internet, and the tediousness of it happening often. Sometimes someone is good enough at other things that it's worth working with them anyway, but it's despite their tendency go to off on mailing lists, not because of it! And when more than one person does it regularly it gets really tedious, e.g. in the old comp.lang.lisp, Another Goddamn Flame From The Usual Suspects was not one of the group's strong points, even though some of those people were also smart.

I think the email that was sent was incredibly rude. This person clearly spent considerable time writing it, and yet it shows from start to finish they didn't bother to read, research, or even understand the current state of OpenBSD.

Why should fools be suffered? OpenBSD developers have an OS to develop.

That's just Theo being himself (and the OpenBSD community by extension) alienating yet another user.

A reason IMHO that OpenBSD has never reached the level of notoriety of FreeBSD is Theo's childish behaviour. I can understand a 20-something insulting someone like that, but not Theo.

ps. I didn't quite understand the Linus reference, but anyway.

the OpenBSD community gladly alienates those types of users. for "us" (I speak only for myself as a decade+ user and supporter), it's a qualitative game, not quantitative.

Then please explain Linux's extreme level of notoriety despite Linus Torvalds' equally combative attitude.

Linus' rants are usually (if ever?) not targeted at newcomers, but at people who know him well (and vice-versa).

Different project structure, I think. You'll likely get told off by subsystem maintainers or even kernel janitors before that. If it gets to Linus, it must have been something unnerving.

This can be interpreted both ways, however. Where Linus will be more elusive, Theo will have no qualms with just barging in and telling you to read the source code, ivory tower be damned. Almost as if he sort of respects even newbies enough to slap some quick advice to their face.

A funny example is here: http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.os.openbsd.misc/212565

GPL + Linus rants are funnier to read.

> A reason IMHO that OpenBSD has never reached the level of notoriety of FreeBSD is Theo's childish behaviour.

A minor reason, perhaps. There are other, more serious concerns.

such as?