Hmmm... I think his continual baiting of RMS is a lot more of an
embarassment than the Perens flap, particularly since Perens himself
is no poster boy for moderation and diplomacy. (Viz. his tangled
interaction with Debian). When ESR is really on a tear, he is capable
of making RMS seem like the voice of reason in comparison --- no mean
feat.
My take on it is that ESR is really good at generating publicity,
which is, in turn, a good thing --- and provided we don't get these
sorts of blowups *too* often, it's better to have him than not.
(Even despite other annoyances, like the bogus amateur sociology in
the "noosphere" essay --- a look at how actual splits are handled in
the community, and how "splitters" are *not* always pillioried, raises
real questions about that --- or, for that matter, his persistent and
annoying misspelling of the word "kludge").
But it certainly is starting to look like he needs a vacation. Or
Ritalin. Or both...
rst