> Linux evangelists were far more obnoxious when Linux was first making the rounds.
Yes, absolutely.
> This is just how tech works and how tech people tend to behave.
I really think that that this old guard mentality needs to die out. Rudeness is protected in the industry because we normalize that it's... what, intrinsic to programming? But that just isn't true, and it's harmful to everyone in the field.
I think you're attempting a reductio ad absurdum here, but, since your 2nd sentence isn't really true, you haven't achieved the "ad absurdum" bit.
Back in the day, yes, the Linux community was indeed quite bothersome. That's why I fairly quickly switched to FreeBSD as my primary OS. I found I had a lot fewer toxic interactions in the FreeBSD community than I did the Linux one. In time, FreeBSD didn't really cut it for me any more, so I switched to OS X. The Mac community does have its incorrigible elements, too, but they are much easier to avoid than they are with Linux, where interacting with the community is a must in order to get help.
Yes, these things do have implications for open source communities. Personally, I suspect that, all along, the biggest headwind for Linux on the desktop has actually been that the social environment surrounding Linux tends to alienate people who might otherwise have stuck around to help make it more successful.
LOL, I can still remember the python "enthusiast" who lived across the hall from me in the freshman dorm in 1996/97. He is forever etched in my brain.
I ran into him at a bar in Indianapolis 10 years or so ago when our alma mater was in the Sweet Sixteen. Must have drunkenly passed along my email address.
Because about a year ago, he sent me a link to an interview he had given about the new thing he was passionate about. I congratulated him and asked a few questions out of kindness. Yeah, the response was exactly what you could imagine. All future emails from him go directly to the trash.
that is why I won't use python and why just the mention of "Linux desktop" puts a sour taste in my mouth.
feverish advocates detract from the thing they aim to augment, and yeah, the worst thing about anything on the internet is its community, by a wide margin.
This is just how tech works and how tech people tend to behave.