Earlier quoted context omitted.
That may have been true once, but imho these days LWN is as likely to have uninformed or trollish comments as anywhere else...you don't need to pay to comment
You can hide comments from nonpaying users, I do that and it removes all the noise.
If only it was the nonpaying users which were the bigger problem. There's a small number of loud and obnoxious subscribers who drown out most conversation threads and make reading or contributing not worth the effort. It used to be a place for some keen and insightful commentary. But in recent years I've found the various "factions" which dominate the discussions to make the atmosphere quite unpleasant; it certainly pushed me out.