Linus Torvalds—Linus Torvalds apologized for years of abusive behavior, adopted Code of Conduct for Linux kernel
After decades of aggressive, personal attacks on Linux kernel contributors in mailing lists, Torvalds publicly apologized, calling his behavior 'unprofessional and uncalled for.' He took a 5-week sabbatical to 'get assistance on how to understand people's emotions' and adopted the Contributor Covenant Code of Conduct for the Linux kernel project.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| DEI Programs | +toward | secondary | +0.50 |
| Worker Rights | +toward | primary | +1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | +0.498 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (high ×1.5) × confidence (0.59)× agency (reactive ×0.75)
Evidence (1 signal)
Confirms Statement Sep 16, 2018 verified
Linus Torvalds publicly apologized for abusive behavior and took sabbatical
In the Linux 4.19-rc4 release notes, Torvalds wrote: 'My flippant attacks in emails have been both unprofessional and uncalled for. Especially at times when I made it personal.'