I believe if I asked him to change, he would, but I don't see the bullying. He's a cogent, forceful arguer for sure, but that's a good thing, no? Maybe he oversteps the guidelines a little sometimes—in fact he must, because it's impossible not to from time to time—but AFAICT it's neither frequent nor egregious. If everyone respected the site guidelines as well as he does, regardless of whatever views they're arguing for, HN would be a vastly better place.

Still, we don't come close to seeing everything and I understand the sensitivities people feel around elitism (real or perceived). If you or anyone see a post by any user that you think I would normally give a moderation scolding to, you're welcome to bring it to our attention at hn@ycombinator.com. I'll normally either post a moderation reply and thank you for bringing it to our attention; or, if not, at least let you know that I don't think it broke the guidelines badly enough to do so. And I can promise you that it's our intention to treat everyone equally.

(p.s. there are actually difficult cases of users who break the site guidelines a lot and also post a lot of valuable comments, but tptacek is nowhere near being one of those).