I'm not referring to that incident, I'm referring to his criticisms when he was using OpenSUSE and became frustrated at having to use the root password to do basically anything:
"If you have anything to do with security in a distro, and think that [users] need to have the root password to access some wireless network, or to be able to print out a paper, or to change the date-and-time settings, please just kill yourself now. The world will be a better place."
And just as with you said above, yes, he is right, but it was completely uncalled for and unprofessional to go about the criticism in such a way.
I do find his quips funny, and in some workplaces it'd just be behind-closed-doors banter, but it's right that he doesn't go on mean rants anymore. Publicly humiliating devs and wiping your hands clean of the situation while your fans continue to harass them is not optimal.