Linux creator Linus Torvalds is taking time out from his role in leading the iconic open-source software to obtain assistance “on how to understand people’s emotions and respond appropriately.”

Torvalds (pictured), despite his undoubted genius, has often been a controversial figure because of the way he treats other people in the community.

The complaints about his behavior go back years. In 2013, kernel developer Sarah Sharp called out Torvalds’ behavior as unprofessional, including alleging that Torvalds was “advocating for physical intimidation and violence.” Torvalds then accused Sharp of playing a victim card, raging against any suggestions that he should change.

In 2015 while giving a speech, Torvalds, discussing Nvidia Corp., turned to a camera and said “so Nvidia fuck you,” while giving a middle finger. There are countless other examples of crass behavior from Torvalds, but it appears that his reaction to an event scheduling issue may have been the tipping point, at least based on Torvalds’ own words.

“That whole situation then started a whole different kind of discussion,” Torvalds wrote on a Linux mailing list. “And kind of incidentally to that one… I realized that I had completely misread some of the people involved.”

Torvalds went on, “I am not an emotionally empathetic kind of person and that probably doesn’t come as a big surprise to anybody. Least of all me. The fact that I then misread people and don’t realize (for years) how badly I’ve judged a situation and contributed to an unprofessional environment is not good.”

Torvalds noted that people in the Linux community had confronted him about his “lifetime of not understanding emotions,” adding that “my flippant attacks in emails have been both unprofessional and uncalled for.”

Not providing a timetable for a return to the software that underlies much of the internet, Torvalds said only that “I am going to take time off and get some assistance on how to understand people’s emotions and respond appropriately.”

Not everyone has taken the announcement at face value. Brad Spengler from Grsecurity, who had previously been on the receiving end of an attack from Torvalds, wrote on Twitter that “I’d like to believe this is genuine and not just his corporate masters finally having enough of Linus’ behavior, but I’ll believe it when I see an apology in my mailbox.”

The unanswered question, given Torvalds’ long history of poor, unrepentant behavior, is why now, given that an issue over event scheduling sounds conveniently scripted.

In 2015, it was claimed that feminist activists were trying to find a way to lay false sexual assault claims against Torvalds through a “honey trap.” There’s no evidence of that ever happening, but Sarah Sharp, the developer he abused in 2013, went on quit her role working on the Linux kernel, resulting in accusations that Torvalds was a misogynist.

Although evidence points to Torvalds being an equal-opportunity verbal abuser, in the age of #metoo even a whiff of misogyny doesn’t go over well.

Photo: theducks/Flickr