[meapix]

The problem with "basic courtesy" is that you need to understand other people's culture/background/personal life to make it "correct". There are people who will be offended just by criticizing their code, not their personal life.

[tptacek]

This whole post that we're commenting on is about exactly that distinction, so this is a bogus argument.

[pron]

She's not complaining about people being offended for some obscure cultural reasons. She states that the community is abrasive and led by assholes. The significance of being spat on is open to cultural interpretation; the significance of being stabbed with a knife is pretty unequivocal. Let's start with that.