@Eigil_Skovgaard Okay, there are interesting arguments here, worthwhile of discussion. So let’s go.
First, regarding the software. My guess to the cause of your frustration is that you had wrong expectations from the start. Please correct me where I’m wrong, but I think this is very typical:
This is the crux: no developer of RawTherapee (nor ART, nor darktable, if I presume), is intending to compete with commercial software. Read that again, please, because it is vital to understanding why “we” act as we do. We are merely trying to develop a piece of software that does something very well. If users think it is valuable for their purpose then we’re happy. We could not care less about market share, nor trying to be as good as any commercial party. There is no business plan, no PDCA, no shareholders, etc. It’s Just Good Software™ that “we” like making and some people might like using.
This idea is complemented (or even driven) by the way our projects work: we’re all unpaid volunteers and anybody can help out. Do you want to contribute code? Go ahead, we happily accept pull requests for RawTherapee. Do you want to contribute documentation or make tutorials? Same thing. Do you just want to test functions and find bugs? Sure, that’s what this forum is for (and GitHub). Do you have great ideas but cannot code? Ah well, there things get a little murky.
Do you want to just bring up new ideas for improvement? Great, new ideas are always welcome – really, they are! However, if you understood my previous paragraphs, it should be clear that if you’re not directly contributing yourself, you have to deal with the available developers and their judgment of your ideas. These are the people that know the project and know the difficulty level of the work involved with bringing your ideas to life. And since they are voluntarily contributing code (= time and effort) to the project, it is only them that can decide whether they want to spend their personal time on coding these ideas. Knowing this, could you accept “no” or “not now” for an answer?
Second, there is something to be said about communication. I already explained to you in a private message what my point of view is regarding my own position and attitude towards the community and the RawTherapee project. If you do not understand me, or really think I have things backwards, I’ll never shy away from a talk. I’d like to think the same goes for many other members on this forum too.
So far you have only replied with anger and accusation. You have not (publicly) tried to understand the viewpoint of others. Any chance for a positive outcome quickly vanishes then.
As for how you were treated by @paperdigits , I would like to quote what I also send you in private:
(…) I strongly believe that if you have a personal quarrel with Mica, you should talk to him in private first. Public accusation is very much frowned upon (and not in the spirit of the rules of this forum). If you can’t come to a mutual understanding of how to keep going forward, you can always contact another admin.
You are on a public forum with a very accepting and broad-minded crowd - at least that is my impression - but there are still rules as to what you can and cannot do. And yes, the moderators and admins are the judge of that. There are proper ways to complain about that and publicly nailing somebody to the wall is not one of them. Nor is berating people as being “socially isolated types” acting with “childish stupidity”. If you cannot abide by this “tyranny”, you should, indeed, leave.
(Edit: edited a few phrases)