Great post.
There has been a bit of a ramp up of "mine is better than yours" in the comments and I agree it needs to calm down. Every camera has its good and bad points and anyone who thinks some technological bit of trickery they purchased somehow makes them a "better" photographer than someone with a different camera really has a lot to learn about photography!
I can't tell you the number of people I've seen over the years with the "best" possible gear available at time who were, quite frankly, awful. I've also witnessed the opposite just as frequently (I met a guy out west once who only had a Canon Rebel and a kit lens and he was knocking out some absolutely killer wildlife shots - more than a few of which I'd happily put in my portfolio).
Gear helps, but it's always been WAY more about the skillset of the person behind the lens than the equipment. Trying to either lift yourself up or put someone else down based on gear is, to anyone with real experience, asinine. It just makes the person doing it look like rank amateur who really doesn't know what they're doing. Sorry to be blunt.
All that said, I do think that, overall, the tone here is good. Most of the posts are friendly and helpful. When comparing gear, most are dispassionate and only stating experience. The trouble often comes when someone mistakes dispassionate observations for some kind of attack on their brand. I don't think there is anything wrong with pointing out product benefits and deficiencies - I do it all the time. However, I think if you're posting that info that you should, again, state the observations without any "bashing" and anyone reading those thoughts should also consider the poster wasn't trying to personally attack them.
It's tricky from a moderation standpoint too. I often get reports calling something an "attack" when it was really just a factual disagreement. BTW - if you do disagree, keeping to the facts only without snide comments helps. Remember, name calling is the refuge of a weak mind
Sorry for the long post, but I have been thinking about some of this stuff for awhile now