By turning these people away rudely, without hints, or with worthless hints like "try a search engine" to gain a few measly XP, we weaken the community.

I will counter this in part by repeating an admonition from Homework and the Monastery:

As we consider whether to lend our assistance, let us distinguish between

  1. Those who come seeking guidance, and
  2. Those who come seeking to have some problem solved for them.

The former are often worthy of assistance, particularly when they provide evidence that they've made a decent stab at their problem. Here is were we grow the community, by lending a helping hand to those who have sought first to help themselves, as other have often done for us. Even so, we must take care to not cheat the seeker out of the pleasure of solving the problem themselves. As the proverb suggests: Offer advice on fishing, rather than fish.

The latter seekers should also be handled with care. Let us be charitable, and seek first to set their feet upon the path to self knowledge. Provide hints. Point to the docs. Give the seeker an opportunity to rise to their problem. But if that fails, let their nodes be reaped.

In reply to Re: Reactionary Posting by dws
in thread Reactionary Posting by Anonymous Monk

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