Nixers.net is run by the community, for the community. Different users with different personalities run different services. Each "admin" can thus set their own rules, according to what they think reflect the community best. Setting those rules won't change the personalities of the users anywau, and IRC has always been known to be full of sarcasm/irony/unfriendly behaviors. This is mostly due to the text-only but instantaneous chat. People react quickly, without thinking about their behavior. The "elitism" of this community tends to also make older members more condescending with newcomers (I do agree that this point sucks).

But a community is not always black or white, and IRC is not the only mean of communication out there. The forum brings more reflection to the conversations, and more "technical" background.

The voice chat can also be used for instant conversation, with a restricted audience (it is not as populated as IRC, has not mods, and includes a chat).

Undisciplined members make more noise than friendly ones, but it doesn't mean there are no good people in there, and you can't judge the community as a whole because of a fistful of its members.

As nixers attract more people, we recruit more personalities, either good, or bad. But in the end, we're all here for the same thing: Unix. So /ignore the trolls, keep being curious and enjoy your stay!