I read this entire post because the man deserves not only to have his say but also to have his say listened to.
That said, I detect a lot of one sided thinking in his post. He took on an incredibly difficult challenge, faced huge opposition, made incredible technical accomplishments and he feels entitled to a standing ovation. When what he receives is criticism, entitlement and obstructionism he takes it personally. If he did all of this work hoping to get accolades, fame, clout, influence then he did it for the wrong reason. There is a mismatch between his expectations and the reality of the world.
In the best of worlds, we do the right thing because it is the right thing, not because we hope for a pat on the back once it is done. In dharmic religions (e.g. Buddhism), one of the principle mental states one is to aim for is detachment from the outcomes of our actions. Suffering is attachment and Martin is clearly suffering. The other thing in Buddhism is recognizing the suffering in others, and I see a distinct lack of that recognition in Martin's post here. He acknowledges his own abrasiveness but not once does he show compassion for the maintainers who have suffered everything he has suffered, perhaps even from actions Martin himself has done.
Martin has several outcomes he wants, mostly his changes (including the inclusion of Rust) being welcomed in the Linux kernel. He is attached to those outcomes and therefore takes it personally when those outcomes are not achieved. Taking a step away from this attachment is a very good step. IMO, his desire to push for these outcomes has been a significant contribution to the toxicity.
I've worked with plenty of talented engineers who behave like this. It takes a certain psychology to achieve incredible technical feats, however they often come at the cost of personality issues in playing with others.
You add these personalities together, where everybody believes they are right an everybody else is wrong then it's a recipe for disaster.
People have to learn to adapt to change, or they get burnt out continually hitting the brick wall.
That said, I detect a lot of one sided thinking in his post. He took on an incredibly difficult challenge, faced huge opposition, made incredible technical accomplishments and he feels entitled to a standing ovation. When what he receives is criticism, entitlement and obstructionism he takes it personally. If he did all of this work hoping to get accolades, fame, clout, influence then he did it for the wrong reason. There is a mismatch between his expectations and the reality of the world.
In the best of worlds, we do the right thing because it is the right thing, not because we hope for a pat on the back once it is done. In dharmic religions (e.g. Buddhism), one of the principle mental states one is to aim for is detachment from the outcomes of our actions. Suffering is attachment and Martin is clearly suffering. The other thing in Buddhism is recognizing the suffering in others, and I see a distinct lack of that recognition in Martin's post here. He acknowledges his own abrasiveness but not once does he show compassion for the maintainers who have suffered everything he has suffered, perhaps even from actions Martin himself has done.
Martin has several outcomes he wants, mostly his changes (including the inclusion of Rust) being welcomed in the Linux kernel. He is attached to those outcomes and therefore takes it personally when those outcomes are not achieved. Taking a step away from this attachment is a very good step. IMO, his desire to push for these outcomes has been a significant contribution to the toxicity.