It's straightforward, really: Bob's got a column to do. He's merely
doing his job, which is to produce snappy, juicy tidbits, gossip,
biting remarks, whatever else makes readers happy. Just like some
journalists do film reviews, TV reviews, etc, Bob is doing "Internet
reviews", and I have no doubt that he receives vast amounts of
supportive mail. It's a psychological thing, Joe Public liking to
see somebody telling somebody some "truths" on their behalf -- "Yes,
you tell them Bob! Good work!" -- and is merely a result of the
Internet becoming part of Joe Public's life. It can't be any other
way, and if it wasn't Bob doing it, it would be somebody else. And
there isn't really any reason to be too concerned about it; it's an
achievement of sorts to have people spending time criticising you.
Some people believe that Bob's past somehow should influence what
he's doing now. It doesn't, it won't, and it never will, because
he's not doing the things now that he did many years ago. He's doing
something completely different.
Bob is actually quite funny at times, I liked the thing about wearing
a tie. Can we get somebody to send a reminder on the IETF announcement
list, for people to bring ties and testboot their laptops before
turning up in Montreal?