I think this was quite educational - for one thing, when promoting Bitcoin to newbies don't ask them to use the Qt client. Suggest blockchain or Electrum or similar so they don't get too hammered right up front.
You know that hurts the bitcoin network, we need more FULL NODES, hence why it is in beta, it isn't for people that don't understand why the use of it is so important. This is exactly why people shouldn't introduce people that don't understand the network and just want to dive in.
I disagree. It doesn't hurt Bitcoin - it simply doesn't help Bitcoin in that way. Are you suggesting that we don't want to introduce new users to Bitcoin? Judging by what I've being seeing for the last year and a half that is one of the main thrusts in this community. Everyone rejoices when more new users get exposed.
IMO the Qt client will improve and one day be usable by newbies. Maybe some newbies will be willing to put up with it, but turning off new users because we demand they use that client is not beneficial to Bitcoin. Otherwise why do we bother developing all these alternatives?
Supporting the network is great and everyone who can manage that should. But expecting new users to do that is only going to discourage adoption.
I started a bitcoind node on my miner 2 days ago and it still hasn't downloaded the blockchain fully. As that user on reddit pointed out - he gave up and looked for other options. I have another bitcoind node on my server in Chicago. For users like me and you - great, run nodes. For others, I say do what they can to use Bitcoin according to their needs.