Is it hyperbole, really, when the same argument would be applied in the opposite direction?
I know that KDE somehow has a reputation for quiet professionalism [1], but I don't think that should extend to a developer's personal opinion, nor do I think that pointing out the hyperbole of someone else is itself an example of hyperbole. Especially when the hyperbole is so obviously hyperbolic!
The blog author is asking the community [KDE] a question, not acting as if his opinion represents the community. He's talking to me and my fellow developers, via an open letter.
KDE is a much looser community than you may be used to seeing within open source projects. You seem to be projecting to see an alpha dev who's looking back at his friends saying "What should we do with this one?" with a grin on his face and a plot in his mind. But that's not what's going on, and that's not what someone in KDE would see. What you see on the tin is all that's going on.
A KDE developer's opinion is implicitly his or her own and no one elses.
I know that KDE somehow has a reputation for quiet professionalism [1], but I don't think that should extend to a developer's personal opinion, nor do I think that pointing out the hyperbole of someone else is itself an example of hyperbole. Especially when the hyperbole is so obviously hyperbolic!
[1] http://inmyholyopinion.com/2007/05/11/gnome-vs-kde/