That's not the only choice available.

Well, it seems that no amount of explanations will satisfy you, so I would say you're the one pushing for a binary choice scenario. Hard...

why don't you chill the fuck out. you've been harassing the op over and over here

I think you should take your own advice.

Is it harassment? I'd like to have the OP's opinion on how they feel about it.

The way I read it, the parent is trying to warn them that it may be dangerous for them to do it this way, because they may get sued.

And then the good people of HN find it sad (I agree with that feeling) and therefore attack the messenger (the parent), who simply defends their opinion. Which to me sounds like an informed opinion: "be careful next time about this", in a way.

I didn’t feel harassed, but I didn’t actively engage in that part of the discussion because I felt it was distracting from the actual problem. I also wasn’t particularly fond of the tone of some comments, though those who made them were well within their rights to express themselves that way.

That said, there were good arguments that I fully agree with.

Yep, totally agreed with all that.