You somewhat focus on being a jerk at user groups, but you're perpetuating a story from a blog post of a third person account that simply speculated about how someone might have felt without giving almost any context to the situation or first hand information from the speaker or Yehuda. I've been part of a Java usergroup where interrupting the speaker/presentation was not only acceptable but often the norm. Without any context you can't really say how that behavior was received.
Sometimes I think that Ruby's "drama" is equivalent to Rails' "magic", i.e. weak criticism perpetuated more by detractors and not really considered a problem internally.
I agree entirely. I started programming with ruby and rails about a year and a half ago and have made a habit of going to meetups and conferences in the area. I have seen nothing that wasn't intended to be constructive and helpful and I would argue that the ruby/rails community is one of the most welcoming I've run into. I have witnessed some misunderstandings that spun out of control, but I don't think you can say this is something specific to the ruby community and I'd argue that it has very little to do with celebrity-seeking. Any community is going to have some friction between elements at times, and I think this site just contributes to the overblown perception that all rubyists are primadonnas and drama-queens.
Sometimes I think that Ruby's "drama" is equivalent to Rails' "magic", i.e. weak criticism perpetuated more by detractors and not really considered a problem internally.