One chap faced me quite agressively on a Mudcat issue at the bar once

Dear Lord. That does suggest a lack of appreciation of what's what, and in particular of what matters. When I was more heavily involved in online communities I made a point of never insulting or belittling anyone as a person - several times I told someone they were being an idiot or worse, but never (as far as I could manage) that they were an idiot. Online it's all a performance to some extent - we all get into habitual ways of writing, & sometimes the habits we get into are idiotic habits.