I think if you take it out of context (which most people do), it looks a lot worse than it is.
A very senior guy who shouldve known better was trying, fairly persistently, to break a very simple rule everybody agreed to for a very bad reason. Linus told him to shut the fuck up.
I wouldnt say that Linus's reaction was anything to look up to but I wouldnt say that calling the tone police is at all justified either.
I mean, the guy sent one short email before Torvalds flew off the handle; that’s hardly “trying persistently” to break a rule. I can think of a thousand assertive ways to tell the guy to shut up that wouldn’t have required behaving like an angry toddler.
A very senior guy who shouldve known better was trying, fairly persistently, to break a very simple rule everybody agreed to for a very bad reason. Linus told him to shut the fuck up.
I wouldnt say that Linus's reaction was anything to look up to but I wouldnt say that calling the tone police is at all justified either.