Agree. I’m joining you on this hill to die on. I myself also had the same unwelcoming experience in the beginning while still in university. After a few closed

Agree. I’m joining you on this hill to die on. I myself also had the same unwelcoming experience in the beginning while still in university. After a few closed/downvoted posts I got a bit of ptsd and quit. Until I started working and needed to ask questions. This time I was doing research, making sure I really can’t find my answer on internet, and I was making detailed posts with MVP and explaining all research I’ve done. As a result I’ve got answers which I probably never ever could have gotten on any other website. And I did not feel unwelcome at all. Later I even started volunteering my time when I had downtimes at work answering some questions myself based on knowledge I learned at my job. SO is not meant to be friendly. It’s meant to get the job done. It’s meant to be a repository of useful Q/A. If you want a welcoming environment where you can post whatever at the price of possibly not getting a good answer try Reddit or Quora or something. SO is the wrong place for that. Keep in mind that people who answer questions volunteer their time and knowledge. They don’t have time to baby sit you and be nice and kind to you. If your answer is lacking research, or not a good fit for website, it badly worded or whatever - they will tell you that fair and square. Again, it’s a repository of useful questions and answers - not a dumpster fire of every question ever asked. It is this Spartan, not-nice, straight to the point, get the job done, moderated environment is what made SO a #1 go to place for programming related questions. This is why it’s so useful, even to the people who complain how “not nice” it is. There are already plenty of useless or “hit-and-miss useful” Q/A websites like quora, Reddit, etc. (also, remember Yahoo answers?). Why can’t we have the opposite of those websites? Why are people trying to bring SO down to the level of those websites? If you don’t feel welcomed on SO - no problem, go elsewhere! Now, all of what I said above used to be applicable before SO started to go downhill a few years ago. I stopped engaging in community so I don’t know what’s happening there now. I don’t know how many people continue trying to preserve the original mission but I gave up cause I don’t have time.