This is really where the flamewar began. Re-reading https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45791773 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45791773, I don't think i

This is really where the flamewar began. Re-reading https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45791773 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45791773, I don't think it was as hostile and judgmental as you assumed. The parent commenter didn't think it was, and replied in a normal, conversational way. It was only from this comment onwards that the subthread became so toxic. Even if that user had been as bad as you assumed, it's still not OK to respond in a hostile and escalatory way. The guidelines ask us in several different ways to avoid this kind of commenting: Be kind. Don't be snarky. Converse curiously; don't cross-examine. Edit out swipes. Comments should get more thoughtful and substantive, not less, as a topic gets more divisive. Please don't fulminate. Please don't sneer. Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith. Eschew flamebait. Avoid generic tangents. Please take a moment to read the guidelines and make an effort to observe them in future. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html We detached this comment from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45791773 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45791773 and marked it off topic.