But it is, and they are. Raymond sees Slashdot's irrepressibly crackeresque tone as a liability for open source advocates trying to bring the suits on board. We have to think about what has caused us PR problems in the past, and assiduously avoid that. That's also the reason why I don't think we should go back to calling it 'free software' in public. We haven't won that battle yet.
Handles are the same issue.
We know what has made us stink in the eyes of target markets in the past. If we want to succeed, then the least invasive, least censorious, least manipulative thing we can do is simply avoid that negative stuff. Perens, too, expressed strong reservations about Slashdot's level of discourse. And it's good soap opera, you've got to admit. But that's the point.