My view:

(1) The overarching principle in posting to these lists should be *good will*.

In particular:

(1a) comments/suggestions/concerns which contribute to the flourishing
of NetBSD (and other associated projects)

in virtue of

(1b) the mutual benefit of its developers, users, supporters, etc.

(2) Reasoned, constructive criticism within the scope of the project
is welcome; without it, there would be mediocrity and stagnation.

(3) Vacuous, pejorative remarks directed at any
individuals--especially those who spend hours dedicated to (1a,1b) and
adhere to (1)--are not welcome.  This project consists of only
volunteer contributions.

(4) Moreover, NetBSD is not a product which sells itself to a given
market.  It is a "research" operating system which is often suited to
myriad practical tasks.  My impression is that most people who work on
it do so out of their own passion/autodidactic drive--and for fun.
Like many worthy contributions to all sorts of fields, these
motivations often result in excellence because people who work out of
these motives are often among the most talented there are.

(5) Volunteer projects (aside from those which also have tremendous
commercial support) progress based solely upon the efforts of the
volunteers.  That one part of the system isn't as good as it could be
*in theory* often is an indicator only that most people can only spend
so much time volunteering without spending time doing other things to
support themselves/their families, etc.

Therefore, if someone posts something which is contradictory [to the
spirit of] (1) and (2) while saying things along the lines of (3),
they are undoubtedly not in any posititon to wantonly make disparaging
remarks; instead, they should get hip to (4) and (5).

Personally, there are sometimes things I'd like to see improved in
NetBSD which I am not capable of doing myself.  That's one of the
reasons I volunteer my time to help with what I can; I hope that by my
volunteering,  those who are in the position to improve the system in
ways I cannot might have more time to do just that.

Sorry if this was overly verbose, but I felt I had to make a few
things painfully clear. ;)

--Blair