[kwhitefoot]

> SO isn't a resource to hand-hold you when you're learning something new. It's a resource for asking specific questions when you can't find the solution anywhere else (and you've actually tried).

Why not? A lot of people need help, why not just politely point them in the right direction. Or if you feel that that is beneath you just ignore them.

If someone asks a question like "Which is the best tool for solving problem x" they question is closed with a note saying that is has been closed because it will only attract opinion based answers. Well that is exactly what the question was asking for, an opinion from someone who might know better than the person asking the question.

I would much rather have the supercilious answers removed. I have in mind the ones that instead of answering the question simply tell you that you shouldn't approach the problem that way at all even when the person asking has made it clear that they have no choice in that (corporate choice of platform, IDE, DB, etc., for instance).

[wnoise]

> Why not?

Well, that's not the problem the site owners were trying to solve, and it appears that trying to solve it would impact what they are trying to do.