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##As is often the case, the supply side is ultimately the governing factor.

As is often the case, the supply side is ultimately the governing factor.

• It helps us save each other's time by indicating this question as it stands should be considered a waste of time, or as I described earlier, something which would place a disproportionate demand on supply. You are not the only person looking for help, and to be fair, the people who make a better effort asking for it are given priority.

• It prevents people who are eager to answer questions, but in fact do not possess the necessary knowledge to do so, from filling a void. A bad answer is not better than no answer.

• For people who are new to the whole realm, it helps them to understand what they are doing wrong when they ask a question. Although this may involve some bluntness at times, it is ultimately a kinder policy than just ignoring them and/or setting them up for a "let the blind lead the blind" scenario (all apologizes to the visually impaired).

• It helps us save each other's time by indicating this question as it stands should be considered a waste of time, or as I described earlier, something which would place a disproportionate demand on supply. You are not the only person looking for help, and to be fair, the people who make a better effort asking for it are given priority.

• It prevents people who are eager to answer questions, but in fact do not possess the necessary knowledge to do so, from filling a void. A bad answer is not better than no answer.

• For people who are new to the whole realm, it helps them to understand what they are doing wrong when they ask a question. Although this may involve some bluntness at times, it is ultimately a kinder policy than just ignoring them and/or setting them up for a "let the blind lead the blind" scenario (all apologizes to the visually impaired). While there may be a fine line between that and rude, this is a bit an eye of the beholder issue. When in doubt, err on the side of pronoia as opposed to presuming someone is intentionally trying to hurt your feelings.

• goldilocks: 871 answers, 18 questions.
• joan: 932 answers, 1 question.
• Steve Robillard: 264 answers, 3 questions.
• Jivings: 134 answers, 10 questions.
• ppumkin: 286 answers, 13 questions.

^{1. There were some other steps in this "evolutionary" chain, and as with biology, newer is not always better and the old often continues to co-exist, usually because they fill different niches which is part of why Stack Exchange is explicitly described as not a discussion forum. It isn't a mail list either, but no one would mistake it for such. Mail lists, for those who have never tried to use one, are still in widespread use and you will often find answers there you won't find here -- if you can find the right list. Note they tend to place an even higher bar on demand than we do, whereas the bar with discussion forums tends to be lower, which is likely why much of of the "supply side" has steadily migrated to Stack Exchange over its ~8 year history, beginning with Stack Overflow, which is certainly now the undisputed, far and away, most significant place for "sharing technical information online" when it comes to general programming topics. Just in case you think I am trying to imply we have an analogous relationship to the Pi Foundation's discussion forum, I'm not and we don't ;)}

• joan: 1705 answers, 2 questions.
• goldilocks: 1373 answers, 24 questions.
• Steve Robillard: 466 answers, 4 questions.
• Milliways: 1111 answers, 36 questions
• Jivings: 137 answers, 10 questions.

^{1. There were some other steps in this "evolutionary" chain, and as with biology, newer is not always better and the old often continues to co-exist, usually because they fill different niches which is part of why Stack Exchange is explicitly described as not a discussion forum. It isn't a mail list either, but no one would mistake it for such. Mail lists, for those who have never tried to use one, are still in widespread use and you will often find answers there you won't find here -- if you can find the right list. Note they tend to place an even higher bar on demand than we do, whereas the bar with discussion forums tends to be lower, which is likely why much of of the "supply side" has steadily migrated to Stack Exchange over its ~10 year history, beginning with Stack Overflow, which is certainly now the undisputed, far and away, most significant place for "sharing technical information online" when it comes to general programming topics. Just in case you think I am trying to imply we have an analogous relationship to the Pi Foundation's discussion forum, I'm not and we don't ;)}