Googlers that were around when Vic Gundotra was a big player love trashing him. I was surprised when this blog described him in mixed and maybe even positive terms.
The vast majority of HN comments care much more about being right than being kind, and this has also been my experience within the tech industry in general. I doubt that the author thinks that unlimited kindness at the expense of correctness is the ideal.
Yes, if you want to say something reprehensible it’s fine as long as you say it in a long-winded and impartial-sounding fashion involving lots of “logic” and “objectivity” à la Slate Star Codex.