I don't know the entire history of how ALT.NET came to be and I'm not sure that it really matters. I was scheduled to go to the conference in Austin, but had a family function that I had to attend that same weekend so I didn't make it. I didn't get on the altnetconf list until late Oct (I think) so for myself, I missed a lot of the discussions. I wasn't in the thick of it all, but I believe that has given me a bit of perspective of how ALT.NET is perceived by everyone else.
First let me say that I consider myself ALT.NET and think that it's great. It's wonderful to have a place to kick ideas around with other people using the non main stream tools and ideas. On the list there has been discussions about what ALT.NET should strive to be. There's even a mission statement (or whatever it's called):
We are a self-organizing, ad-hoc community of developers bound by a desire to improve ourselves, challenge assumptions, and help each other pursue excellence in the practice of software development. Our movement is new. The conversation just started. All are welcome to shape and form the dialog in blogs and lists and face-to-face gatherings both local and global.
I think it's a good statement. It's goals mimic my own and the statement is open and inviting to anyone who wants to participate.
Despite that statement, ALT.NET seems to be carrying around some negative baggage which I don't fully know the origin, but I want it to stop. I like ALT.NET and I think that it adds real value to the community. I don't want it to be labeled as a gang of negative software development rebels that have no respect for anyone that is not ALT.NET. That would be anti-ALT.NET wouldn't it?
Rob Conery had a recent post which describes the ALT.NET community as the "Cool Kids" which I took to mean a shelf-glorified clique. There are some egos in the ALT.NET community, but there are egos in any group. I actually found Rob's post very entertaining (I've never been cool, so being a called a cool kid sounds kind of neat). In the post, Rob is speaking out against the negativity coming out of the group which I can relate. Some of the more vocal members of the ALT.NET community have spoken out against some of the mainstream views put in place by Microsoft. I don't have a problem with this. Others have spoken out in ways which are considered insulting which I certainly don't agree with. I want to point out that the actions and comments of a few individuals don't reflect the whole community. I'm more interested in having discussions which solve problems as I'm sure many others feel the same.
Don't get me wrong, if you disagree with something, speak up. Just do it in a proactive manner. If you consider yourself a leader in the community, then you have a responsibility to act like a leader. If you want people to listen to you, you will have to communicate in a manner that doesn't create a flame war. If ALT.NET is to have a voice and an impact, we need to preserve it's credibility.
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