Here you have an exceedingly technical thread with some of OSS brightest minds working on a little puzzle and it's interspersed with litter. You have the sincere (yet misplaced) thank you for working on OSS, the clueless guy, and the isn't it cool we're talking about such hardcore topics guy. Every one of those comments makes me cringe a little.
This is why geeks have yet to give up mailing lists. The hurdle they put up is actually an effective barrier for the unmotivated. Some conversations are meant to be had in a quiet place amongst people who are similarly inclined. Google misleads you into thinking that Plus is that place, but it just isn't. Perhaps if there was a way for the community to sort the relevant from the irrelevant, it's just too tempting of a megaphone for people to jump in front of. Sometimes adding a little friction to the 'Post' button is a good thing.