I find GP's kind of post and the discussions that often follow to be some of the best on HN, IMO. To me, it's the spirit of your post that drives many away fro

I find GP's kind of post and the discussions that often follow to be some of the best on HN, IMO. To me, it's the spirit of your post that drives many away from software development. This holier-than-thou attitude of how dare someone ask a reasonable question of people who might be able to easily answer, or direct to an answer. Someone asking a question like this isn't saying, "Hey, next person that comes by, do some research for me" it's saying "Would someone that has already done this research mind sharing their findings?" Progress in knowledge base communities is driven primarily by building on existing knowledge. The more readily knowledge is shared, the faster progress will be. So having a culture where anyone seeking answers must redo the groundwork that has already been done by others in order to "earn" the answer is an impediment to progress within that community.