[dandelany]

Honestly I feel that most FOSS projects would lose very very little if the most vocal complainers somehow vanished overnight. The angriest users are the ones that understand the least and contribute the least. Of course there are legitimate issues with nearly every FOSS project, and civil people complaining about them legitimately, and we should work to address them. But we should not be pandering to the most petulant and angry users in our communities - as the article says, this simply rewards bad behavior. I would be happy to see those members largely ignored in favor of better communication with the more levelheaded and rational users in the community.

[striking]

Well, that's fair. If someone steps majorly out of line, time them out or ban them. I'm not saying you should pander, I'm saying you should empathize. (Within reason.)

That being said, exclusion is a very powerful tool, one best used with caution. It's easy to mistake temporary anger for constant trolling. It's very easy to ban someone who falls into that sort of gray area.

[dandelany]

Just to clarify - I'm not suggesting we make liberal use of the banhammer for anyone who steps out of line - there are other ways of changing behavior that will work better. Just considering the hypothetical where they don't exist :)