Rod: "C'mon mate, did you even read it? This is worthy of discussion, not simplistic dismissal". It doesn't seem a heated or offensive discussion to me. He just posted an article and was willing to discuss it with the community.
People are free to leave a community they feel unwelcome in.
If it's an open source software project, they are also free to fork the software and make their own project around it. While, obviously, two parallel projects divided by interpersonal issues isn't ideal and likely duplicates efforts, it's better than losing the work of either of the factions, so, given the existence of the social issues, it's quite possibly the best acheivable outcome.
I'm just wondering what would've happened if Rod was forced to resign and the other <50% voters who voted against it. Maybe a fork of NodeJS, but this time from Rod's fellows?
His stance against Code of Conduct, as evident by this Tweet: https://twitter.com/rvagg/status/887652116524707841 and follow up comments were considered inappropriate by some.
Even more details here: https://github.com/nodejs/TSC/issues/310
""" The TSC members were not able to reach a natural consensus on the steps forward so a vote was called on two specific questions:
(A) Should Rod be removed from the TSC: Yes or No (B) Should Rod be asked to voluntarily resign from the TSC: Yes or No
There are 13 members of the TSC. 10 members voted, two abstained, and Rod did not participate.
The vote came down 60% against removing Rod from the TSC and 60% against asking Rod to voluntarily resign. """