It could be a solution but that already kind of exists (with forums/IRC etc). However, these "gatekeepers" can be just as unhelpful. I have been studying this

It could be a solution but that already kind of exists (with forums/IRC etc). However, these "gatekeepers" can be just as unhelpful. I have been studying this behavior for some time - and it's very interesting. I have found that C++ communities to contain members that talk down to new members, yet in Assembly language communities (which is arguably a harder more advanced language than C++) I have seen members offer extremely helpful advice and even sample code. Sometimes though people can be too friendly - in some communities people post something they are working on (which is basically a copy/paste from the sample code provided by the language/library) and the other members are like "THAT IS AWESOME". I'm not saying library/language/framework developers have to remote into people's computers and hold their hands - but at least try to show some professionalism and respect. Instead of replying with "this has been asked a 1000 times - please use the search" and close/lock the thread, reply with "Have you seen these other threads? They may contain what you are looking for - otherwise let me know". The later will go a lot further in encouraging new members to join and current members to stay. To me, in my opinion, the first indicates a lack of knowledge and/or maturity on your part. From what I hear, the subversion guys are always polite and have used this to battle off trolls. Be immature as the trolls and you are just feeding the trolls...and the sign is clearly posted "Don't feed the trolls".