"I did my best" comes across as exceedingly hollow when the post itself is :

1) : 'circus freaks of open source' isn't some clever pun or double entendre; it's just a jab.

and

2) : "Hey everyone , this list of folks have troubles, let's talk about them by name and make a gentleman's pact not to bother them while we analyze the meta situation of 'people with troubles' more broadly!"

"Let's not bother this <full name of person>, internet!" is about the most naive net take one could imagine. If you need to make an example, or use a person as an example, at least try to anonymize the premise and identity.

If your doctor got an ig nobel for his pioneering technique for removing cucumbers from patients' rectums you'd be damned sure you'd prefer a Bob and Jane style anecdote rather than full name credit and a press interview as a frontier patient.

Yeah, Terry is long gone. Other folks aren't. Let's not pretend we're all just unwitting spectators here, and let's not ascribe fault or reasons behind Terry's tragic end.

I took the "circus freaks" line as a jab at the audience, not the performers.