May I say that personally I have not noticed the atmosphere outlined by TB, this may be because the few times that I check General diss, I am not particularly interested in some of what I consider, to be pointless and uninformed comments, and so rarely read it.
I agree that at times OOF may seem 'cliquey', but that is inevitable when a group of members meet regularly at big meets, and often help each other with tech. problems - which incidentally are invariably shared with us lesser mortals. I would enjoy joining the big meets, but quite frankly, at 75, I am not into tents or caravans, so it is, sadly, unlikely that I shall attend.
The comment about rudeness between members rings true, I myself have been on the receiving end of it because I wasn't as knowledgeable on a particular subject as the other party deemed I should have been, but that did not put me off the forum.
The JB/LJ/LK issue I know less than nothing about, so I can only assume it was something that occurred in General Diss, which, as said, I rarely visit.
I too thought the matter of the post count slashing, leading to one of our lady members leaving (thinking about it, General diss was quite interesting before she left), was handled rather badly in that many of us were completely at a loss to understand what was going on. Unfortunately what I was told had happened turned out to be wrong, but led me to make comments about a member which I would rather not have posted. I am sure this was very amusing incident to a certain number in the know, but left many of us feeling very uncomfortable, and did contribute to the 'clique' feeling.
My overall impression after 4 years is that the majority of people on the forum are more than happy to share their advice and expertise, and long may that attitude continue.