Sometimes facts and logic can be extremely verbose - I feel many analogies are in place not to be condescending, but because the author has faith in the reader that they can make the connection between the analogy and the problem.
And to be quite honest abstracting ideas is core to problem solving, and I think it's a bit disingenuous to say that anyone misunderstood what Linus was getting at there.
Sure. But don't confuse abstractions with analogies.
Here is a good proof about both the integers and rational numbers. Every integer and rational is a real number (abstraction). When you add any 2 real numbers, you get the same result regardless of their order (fact). So it must be true that, when you add any 2 integers, you get the same result regardless of their order (correct conclusion #1). It also must be true that, when you add any 2 rationals, you get the same result too (correct conclusion #2).
Here is a bad proof about the integers and rational numbers. Both the integers and rationals are very similar: you can add them, subtract them and so on (analogy). Between every 2 rational numbers there is another rational number (fact). So it must be true that between every 2 integers there is another integer (wrong conclusion).
And to be quite honest abstracting ideas is core to problem solving, and I think it's a bit disingenuous to say that anyone misunderstood what Linus was getting at there.