OT: Let’s all take a deep breath

[thejeff]

No. Even without piracy and spam and the like, trolling and other abusive behavior can destroy a community. I've seen it happen. More than once.

You can just skip the harsh posts you don't want to read, until they and the responses and flame wars they generate become 99% of the traffic. The serious posts become lost in a sea of garbage and everyone but the trolls stop bothering.

Some form of moderation is required. Someone has to have the power to delete posts and ban users. On a commercial site, it's going to be the owners and whoever they delegate.

Note that I'm not saying this particular action was right, just arguing against the claim that Shrapnel shouldn't be involved.