Actually, monks sometimes do bite. Like any group, there are occasional grouches. However, overall this is a very helpful, friendly bunch of people. If someone gets excessively hostile, others tend to downvote him or otherwise show disapproval.

I think almost everyone here understands that we were all beginners at one time. What seems like a ridiculously simple question today, was once a difficult one for us. What seems to get some monks riled up is the person who comes here and wants to be spoon-fed scripts, without making an effort to work out the problem him/herself. Most of us understand about being a beginner; but we're not so tolerant of someone who can't be bothered to help with his/her own question.

So yes, I agree that any newbie ought to speak up, as long as they've done some of the work themselves (and simply saying that they don't know where to look is a start). This is probably the most useful site I've found for getting reliable information about Perl.

2006-04-17 Retitled by planetscape, as per Monastery guidelines
Original title: 'Re: A Cautionary tale for Newbies “Monks don’t bite”'