[ralonso]

While I would agree with you that they can be (mostly) ignored, the author says, "[t]hey lurk in IRC channels waiting to harass new programmers. These are the types of people who discourage women from participating in classrooms and within our open source communities."

The problem is that these so-called bullies are hurtful to the community. The concept of computing or technology in general is frightening to most because of the apparent "requirements" in terms of knowledge one needs to have to participate in the scene. Browsing the Github repository of your favorite open source application can be overwhelming to inexperienced people, and if you pair this fear newcomers have with a toxic community, the effects can be disastrous.

The good thing is that these "bullies" are a tiny minority. Yes, they are very vocal, but it seems that no one stands up to them (or maybe just chooses to ignore them). Ultimately it varies from community to community.