my impression of Eric (I don't know him, I've only talked briefly at a couple of conferences) is that if he disagreed with something or thought it had problems, he'd tell you to your face.

I sat in on his speech "Why Django Sucks, and How We Can Fix It" at Djangocon last year:

http://djangocon.blip.tv/file/4112452/

And he gave a lot of tough love to Django in front of most of the establishment and people who are hardcore Djangonauts.

Speaking of questionable tactics, why create a HN account just for the express purpose of attacking him?