I don't think this is a fair characterization of the article. It's really not too much to ask to ask a user to go through official channels like a bug tracker o

I don't think this is a fair characterization of the article. It's really not too much to ask to ask a user to go through official channels like a bug tracker or a mailing list instead of messaging the author directly. And I don't think it's right to accuse someone of hating their users for creating those channels. The only reason an author would make those channels is if they believe it would increase the chances of everyone receiving the best help. It's usually harder to find an authors direct contact information than the official channels. If the user has a legitimate bug report or issue, being told they accidentally found the wrong contact information wouldn't bother many. However if the user is going through backdoor channels specifically to get special treatment then that isn't fair to others.