There was a period of time when Marshall's standard of politeness was the
norm for c.d.t. This lasted for about a year and a half. There were
occasional trolls and more frequently cranks visiting the place. And the
vast majority of people who have been programming for a long time, but know
little or nothing about database design, tend to enter this group thinking
that database theory is completely vacuous. But within that context, we
were able to maintain a modicum of decorum.
Then we were revisited by a regular who had been away for a while, and who
is pretty free with the insults. He could, and can, back up his insults
with pretty sound arguments, and usually gives at least one low key
response before turning up the flames. If that one participant, and others
with similar background, were the only ones insulting people we would be
able to pretty much stuggle along.
Unfortunately, the presence of such insulting behaviour sparks imitation by
others who enjoy flinging feces as much as howler monkeys do, and also know
as much about databases as howler monkeys do. That's the state of affairs
that you walked into.