I think we have to consider the UP and the DOWN "communities separately.

Frankly, I don't see very much rancor and divisiveness "upstairs", but "downstairs", BOY!

Even though there is obviously an overlap of personnel in the two sections, I think the two are two different balls of wax. I'm not at all sure that "downstairs" qualifies as "folk community", even though many of the participants appear upstairs, where "folk" is the order of the day. Frankly, I rather doubt that most of that small troll/obstructionist/rabblerouser group even looks in upstairs.

Also, putting aside the silly/stupid threads (which are sometimes fun, I'll grant you) and the purely meanspirited ones, and even the acceptable threads which get "captured" by the trolls, there are occasional thoughtful threads downstairs, which I for one enjoy hugely.

In sum, I think the opening post was asking a thoughtful question about the wrong or maybe nonexistent problem, as regards Mudcat.

Dave Oesterreich