I think it was a question of whether it was or not (devil's advocate) but I was questioning, in what I realize now was difficult to discern over written comment, whether gains in management effectiveness was a good enough excuse for abusive tactics.

I can show you evidence (China, etc.) of supreme levels of output in the most abusive of situations. That doesn't mean that society doesn't place value on a balance between productivity and the way we treat fellow human beings.

You're veering wildly off-topic. Tyrannosaurs said that "the evidence" shows that Linus's behavior hurts productivity, and that is what was being disputed here. You might value other things, but that isn't what's being discussed.