The author's understanding is that these pepole would be discussing the project proper if they weren't discussing other things instead. I don't think he's right there. People love to talk and tend to flock to wherever conversation is happening. These people were never partciularly interested in discussing the project anyways; they were just browsing and saw an opportunity to jump into the discussion with something they do really care about, such as indentation styles or the nature of abstraction or what have you.

Also, the conclusion is a typical case of something that sounds insightful, but doesn't make any actual sense. I don't have even the slightest clue as to what the author is trying to say.