Wait a minute--HATE the core team? Really?

I can see disagreeing with their decisions, criticizing their code, not liking the direction they're taking WordPress in. I can certainly see that if you make a suggestion or point out a problem and they don't take it on board, you'd be frustrated. I can also see why people might think Automattic is making too many acquisitions and wonder what the future will look like. But HATE? That's a very personal thing and doesn't seem at all justified.

I had something of a tantrum when they took the Post Format UI out of 3.6, because I'd just finished recording a few videos teaching people how to use it and had to do them over. It was inconvenient for me and I was upset. But Mark Jaquith explained why they had to do it and it was clear that it wasn't to inconvenience people like me.

The core team also went to some lengths to ensure such a thing didn't happen again, and though the features-as-plugins model is an imperfect solution, they didn't repeat that particular mistake.

There will be screw-ups. There will be things that the core team can't do because WordPress has to serve such a diverse user base. There will be problems that everybody knows about but which can't be fixed without breaking something else. And there may be some complacency because WordPress doesn't have serious competition as a multipurpose CMS. (I shudder to think of the stagnation that would set in if WP actually powered 75% of the Web.)

And there will be people who produce flawed products. But a product doesn't get better if you just say "This sucks and you suck too." Criticism has to be specific to be useful, so say exactly what's wrong and how you would like it to be different, and if the developer doesn't take your suggestion on board, use a different product.

My husband is Dutch and believes that if you aren't being an asshole, you're dishonest and a hypocrite. That presumably works fine in a culture where everyone else has the same attitude, but it doesn't work so well in America. He's been forced to learn to be diplomatic in order to get better results. And I'd think that if he can do it, anyone can.