> hundreds of other kernel developers imitate his most severe tones all the time
You are making this up.
If you don't, then you should have no problem producing a handful of examples, because 100s of dev doing this all the time will have LKML and other places overflowing with them.
Fortunately, I don't have to spend part of my vacation wading into that cesspit to satisfy your faux-curiosity. Others have already done so. The canonical example, of course, is Sarah Sharp.
Just look for "crap" or "s--t" or "idiot" or "Viro". Note especially that these are presented as humor, i.e. approvingly and not necessarily showing the worst examples that are just mean without even the saving grace of being slightly funny.
This is not an illusion, not a new or unremarked-upon phenomenon. You're the one making things up when you act as though some reasonable person might believe otherwise.
You are making this up.
If you don't, then you should have no problem producing a handful of examples, because 100s of dev doing this all the time will have LKML and other places overflowing with them.