Sometimes, when a thread starts to go amuk, one of the Jakarta founders, Pier Fumagalli, will remind to someone "Stop being a PITA."
What's a PITA?
Someone who insists their solution is better than another upon which everyone else can agree.
Why is this behavior bad?
A core ASF principle is that the best solution is the one upon which we can all agree. Any solution that creates disagreement is, by definition, not the best solution. Perhaps on some astral plane, a contrarian solution is technically superior in some way, but from an ASF perspective, if we can't agree among ourselves, then it is not "better".
PITA Symptoms include:
Believing that there is one true answer to everything.
Not taking no for an answer.
Interjecting pet topics into any given thread ("hijacking").
Replying to your own rants.
Thinking being a PITA is a good thing.
Focusing on persons rather than on principles.
Using ad hominem remarks or labels rather than reasoned discussion
Responding to a thread without reading it first.
Collecting allies rather than information.
Trying to fool others by using multiple alias email accounts.