If I have a good-faith suspicion of Alicorn not following this advice

<sigh>... I don't know how many more ways we can rephrase this till you get it: her advice is solely about how, not when or whether, to go about liking someone. So even if everything you're saying is absolutely true, it does not refute the claims in the article.

Which of these two contradictory obvious positions is right?

Our positions aren't contradictory. His is that you should refrain from commenting at all. Mine is that as long as you're making personal accusations irrelevant to the OP, you should refrain from commenting. Since, in this case, you're making personal accusations irrelevant to the OP, both our positions recommend the same course of action.