> Long time fans of a thing are

the ones who created the community and drove the direction of the thing. I agree, it is only natural to be angry/confused/frustrated when there is a large and quick influx of new people who are pulling the community into many different directions at once. Especially when those new members don't have the understanding of why certain decisions were made. Especially when new members are highly confident and dismissive of old members. The people that are upset are trying to protect their community, the thing that they have grown to love. I don't think it is that anyone wants to keep new people out, but the concern is of losing the thing that they already have and love. A fast influx of new members does take that away.

I definitely think we should be welcoming to new members in any community, but I also think new members should recognize that they're coming into an established space. Not everyone is exactly equal. Not all gatekeeping is bad. Or rather, maybe it is better that we have people that help newbies get involved.

I'm not saying the protection can't get toxic. It definitely can. I was part of the Arch forums awhile ago when there was the push to kill the noob guide (I was pro-noob guide and was a frequent editor). We lost that battle, but hey, it was likely part of the reason we got a bunch more Arch forks like Endeavour and Cachy.

I always want more people to enjoy the things I love. It's great to share and life is so much better with friends. But it is also only natural to get emotional when you're losing that part of your life too. One big problem with big communities is that they become anonymous. Take HN for example. There's a handful of users I recognize, but it is for the most part effectively anonymous. And we're relatively small. The thing I miss the most is small communities, since that's where you get to know people. I think from a broader perspective we've done a great job at destroying those. There's got to be a better balance than what we have now.