Open and constructive discussion is awesome and one of the great things about having a blog is that it provides a forum for this to happen. It adds tremendously to the content as everyone brings with them their own experiences and their own points of view. I don't automatically moderate comments simply because I don't want to be a barrier to open discussion but I do read everything at some point and respond where I can.
That said, commenting on this blog is like being invited into my home; I want people here to get along with each other, take value from the content and to contribute as a member of the fantastic community that is the technology world we inhabit. And just like being in my house, if someone plays up then they may be asked to leave and not come back.
Please play nice with others (and me)
By all means, criticise what you don't like and disagree vehemently where your own experiences lead you to different conclusions. Tell me when I get something wrong whether it's as minor as a typo or a serious flaw in a code sample. I'm not always right and I'd much rather know about it early so I can fix it.
What's not playing nice?
Clearly blatant spam is not on and neither is being abusive or making personal attacks on people. By all means, get fiery, be controversial but keep it constructive. If someone is repeatedly antagonistic or derogatory or if they're just plain argumentative without adding any value then there's a good chance that comments of that nature will be deleted. Keep it up and they may find themselves blocked. That's an extremely rare occurrence (literally a small fraction of a percent of comments) but it does happen and that's why this page is here.