The story is a little disingenuous, since proper procedure does not expose
the lineman in such situations. The problem was more than just the
backfeed.

What is it with you guys. A lineman got electricuted by a backfeeding
generator. It can happen to you also. Sure, you open the main breaker; so
did this guy. It is just a crappy way to run a generator when transfer
switches are $150.

And yeh, the lineman is supposed to test the wire before working on it, and
he is supposed to be insulated so a hot wire won't hurt him; but these
things happen. You want it to happen to you?

It if was the only way to use a generator it might be a reasonable thing to
do, but it isn't.