I read it as passive aggressive as generally there is little actual communication, it's more about putting up an air of unapproachability but I accept that may

I read it as passive aggressive as generally there is little actual communication, it's more about putting up an air of unapproachability but I accept that may vary from developer to developer. But regardless, it's anti-social and suboptimal for anyone other than the developer and even then only in the short terms.