Thumbs up doesn't mean the same thing to everyone. From Wikipedia "'Thumbs up' traditionally translates as the foulest of Middle-Eastern gesticular insults — the most straightforward interpretation is 'Up yours, pal!' The sign has a similarly pejorative meaning in parts of West Africa, South America, Iran, Greece, and Sardinia, according to Roger E. Axtell's book Gestures: The Do's and Taboos of Body Language Around the World.[11]"
My quick impression, and this is not based on a deep understanding of the relevant OSS personality cults, is that Linus doesn't define himself in terms of How Did I Hurt Proprietary Software Today and thus him having a "sense of humor" about MS's latest launch is nothing more than the professional courtesy taken for granted in almost every industry anywhere.
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