Your title reminds me of some things I said in a meditation just over 4 years ago:

If you take the premise that this site should have one definitive answer to every question, and repeat questioners should either search and find their answer there, or be briefly, or preemptively referred to that definitive answer, then the site would serve no purpose and would die. You could simply freeze the database along with the FAQ's and the super search node to a CD and the site could become a static reference work and a piece of history. The rare occasions when a truly unique and original question comes up could be dealt with through an 'Unresolved question automated dial-out' to a list of half a dozen wildly recognised experts, with a fall-back to p5p or comp.lang.perl.moderated(and friends)(+)or some such. +Update: Merlyn Pointed out that comp.lang.perl hasn't existed since 1995...

But that isn't what this site is about, nor should it be. This site is about learning, assisted learning and community. It's about advocacy, about promotion, about self- and community-help. And everyone, from the novitiates, through slow- and rapid-learners, through acknowledged experts can all contribute to and learn; both from the information here, and, through the interactions that take place at this site.

For my part, I learn something, and usually several somethings every time I come here. This evening, I learnt 3 new things in less than an hour. Two of them were even perl-related:). And I will continue to come here and read and learn, and when the occasion arises, post my questions in the hope of achieving a quicker and/or more complete answer than I could achieve alone.

I rarely vote one way or the other on SoPW root nodes, and almost never down. And never for formatting or language or because the subject doesn't interest me.

Occasionally, a really original question pops up that makes you think about things a different way, or question your assumptions and I may upvote those. But mostly, I tend to vote on replies rather than questions. Questions may be the life blood of the place, but without answers (and good answers), they would quickly dry up.

Meditations on the other hand usually get an upvote--whether I agree with them or not. PMD's get a vote for, or against, or abstain according to how I feel about the idea.

I agree whole-heartedly with you Rob. Newbie bashing is a mean spirited pastime. It seems to go in waves here. Fading away and then springing up again for no apparent reason.