Not to minimize the issue, but receiving death threats is rapidly becoming part of being a public figure on the Internet. Columnists, reporters, celebrities, and many others receive them all the time. It's definitely unacceptable, but it's not like we have shown an ability to control it, and I can't think of any assassinations of high-profile Internet figures. I'm surprised you're surprised at people, though! Death threats are regularly meted out over FAR more inconsequential things. I haven't received any myself but colleagues have... and then again I didn't look too closely at the comments on my gun control article. Anyway - it sucks, but it's pretty much the norm for people like Eich to receive death threats pretty regularly.
> Not to minimize the issue, but receiving death threats is rapidly becoming part of being a public figure on the Internet.
Indeed, I've gotten quite a few death threats myself over the years for my radical cause of trying to improve the quality of video game emulators.
The problem with the internet is that you can't really judge a person's mental state from a text post. Quite often the person on the other end making the threats is literally mentally ill.
I was a LONGTIME Digger before that though had even occurred to me. The crazy folks who shout at you on the bus aren't exactly going to be eloquent when they sit down to type are they ;)
