I hate when a specific question is asked and tersely dismissed with only an abstract quote from an unrelated source that doesn't really apply. It's a trend I ha

I hate when a specific question is asked and tersely dismissed with only an abstract quote from an unrelated source that doesn't really apply. It's a trend I have noticed online, and it's such an empty, rude answering style. (I am similarly annoyed by answering a question with a quote from the documentation and nothing else; it smacks of "RTFM", and although sometimes necessary, the attitude is overused.) esr's definition of hacking doesn't really apply to what is considered on-topic for Hacker News. So, allow me to quote the Hacker News guidelines[1], specifically: > If they'd cover it on TV news, it's probably off-topic. I happen to agree, and I think fighting for this piece to be applicable on Hacker News is a waste of time. The trolls slugging on diego for asking the question are worse, because they skipped the guidelines in two respects (the other imploring us to remain civil). [1]: http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html