I don't agree with that phrasing. A lot of people on that thread seemed sure cperciva was some arrogant dickhead bound for failure, but tarsnap is going a lot stronger than many of them are. Also people in the thread were amazingly rude to him, while he seemed pretty polite to me.
In 2007, an academic argues with PG and others. After long exchange, academic defensively states their own achievements.
Another user challenges academic with GP question, to which academic provides unexpected affirmative response.