rich p said:
... in danger of disappearing up its own arse IMHO.
Perhaps some of us should take a deep breath and resist the urge to react and over-react for a little while.
Just my thoughts FWIW.
I posted some time ago along similar lines. I got fed up with personal attacks from people who don't know me when all I had done was express an opinion. Don't run away with the idea that I am some sort of sensitive wallflower type as nearly 37 years of almost daily verbal abuse from people I had to deal with in my job inured me to it. However the health of any forum is dependent to a huge degree on the free interchange of ideas, and personal attacks only make posters think "why bother?".
If posters could respond with an open-minded lightness of touch, I think this forum would flourish even more than it does. I have seen a few old regulars leave and I suspect sustained personal attacks were in some cases at least part of their reasons.