> "Dijkstra was probably a bit heavy on drugs or something (I think the official explanation is that P and V are the first letters in some Dutch words, but I personally find the drug overdose story much more believable)."
I personally have made remarks that were WAY more potentially offensive than that, verbally, with friends. But, accusing Dijkstra of being a drug user, on the Linux kernel mailing list, from a @transmeta address?
That's grounds for termination in many companies, even if you don't get lawyers involved. I think he's only able to get away with it because he's Linus.
Technically, you're right. Today, any junior employee that made a joke like that would be crucified and practically blacklisted from the industry. What you should be thinking, however, is not "why does Linus get away with saying things like that?" but rather "why do I consider it normal for someone's livelihood to be permanently destroyed over a stupid joke?"
The appropriate response is to immediately start thinking why you need to figure out a response to any low-quality joke people make. Maybe, just maybe, there is absolutely no need to make any response whatever. Think about it.
I think if people would stop pretending to be offended by ridiculous things, the problem would solve itself and we wouldn't need to have a "response" in the first place.
That's the idea. Any developer or researcher who uses obscure or meaningless names like "P" and "V" needs to be publicly shamed for it, no matter how well-respected they are. Clarity is vital in this business.
Dijkstra was Dutch and lived in the Netherlands, where drug policies are either nonexistent or loosely enforced. So perhaps it's less offensive than it seems on the surface.
Actually, Linus is from Helsinki that's not exactly close to The Netherlands.
There is no intrinsic connection between Finland and The Netherlands. Although the drug laws are still famous all over.
I personally have made remarks that were WAY more potentially offensive than that, verbally, with friends. But, accusing Dijkstra of being a drug user, on the Linux kernel mailing list, from a @transmeta address?
That's grounds for termination in many companies, even if you don't get lawyers involved. I think he's only able to get away with it because he's Linus.