[reitanqild]

Problem is when you are stumped with some small detail you have missed.

I must admit I have come to the point were I unconsciously just don't ask questions on SO and instead try another hour on my own instead of even trying to ask.

[clover_leaf]

I have never asked a question on SO for this very reason. I will do hours of extra research and testing and searching because I do not want to be on the receiving end of some of the comments I've seen like "you should really get some training in that".

And yes, the extra work in forming a quality question does indeed often help me answer my own question.

However, I have often benefited from someone else's stupid question; so, I'm glad they asked even though I wouldn't have. I also benefit from the opinion questions even though they are always shut down as "not relevant" or "off topic".

It's getting to the point where it is difficult to even read some of the answers because you have to sift through all the hateful snarky comments. I have actually started deliberately avoiding SO and trying out the 2nd or 3rd search result sites.

It's easy to say RTFM but sometimes what people need is context. Unless you've programmed in C and used printf and scanf then format strings in whatever language are pretty opaque.

[yoo1I]

I find that in preparing a question that is specific and answerable, includes everything needed to resolve it and anticipates criticism about not having done enough research myself, I'm usually able to answer the question I had myself, and even find stupid typos or or other silly little details.

In the cases that this process doesn't lead me to an answer, oftentimes I discover that either my question is too broad to be answerable, or that I am missing general education in the area and my actual question is somewhere further down.

So really the impatience and hostility towards bad questions, is a tool I use to aid me in finding answers myself.

That all sounds a little smug, but when I am stuck even after this process and actually post my research on SO or IRC or to a mailing list, too many times I get one-line answers about the tiny thing I was missing... but at least then nobody thought I was just being lazy.

[Tyr42]

I find that half the time I start typing up a question for SO I answer it myself.

I'll imagine someone trying to answer it, but asking if I checked site Y on the topic first, so I'll make sure to add "Site Y only says <blah>" to my question. Only once I have added proof that it's not a trivial mistake on my part would I actually post the question, but sometimes I find out what was causing the problem in the first place.

Or maybe I'll be trying to reduce the problem to a minimal C file and the invocation of gcc that causes the error. And in doing so I'll realize what's wrong.

So I don't think it's a bad thing to get people to go over the question a few times before asking, and try and make it as easy as possible to answer the question.