> the subject is the code/system/product/organisation, which has no feelings and hence can't be offended

This is like saying that telling someone their artwork sucks is not offensive because "the artwork has no feelings."

Someone's artwork _should_ be possible to (negatively) criticise. Of course, just saying "it sucks" is not constructive or helpful.

You can definitely hurt someone's feeling with unconstructive criticism of thier art. However, pointing out areas to improve should not be too painful to the artist, as they can make newer, better works.

I suppose a difficuly can arise if people get too attached to things they make (art, code, writing, whatever) and don't see any one thing as just a step on the road to even better things.