I wonder if it is because we got nicer. RTFM, etc is considered rather rude now. Which is great because people used to be very rude to newbies, creating barriers to entry, but i guess it is also going to decrease signal to noise ratio.
Which is much more reasonable and, more importantly, actionable. Even if no code is shared and it’s just a rough train of though of how the asker is approaching the problem, that’s enough to infer both intent and what solving this problem means for this person.
Exactly. There are so many benefits and zero downsides.
Even if someone follows with "RTFM" anyway, it doesn't automatically create a rude culture so much as it rudely informs you of the etiquette for participating in a helpful culture.
You can say RTFM more nicely, e.g. "You're asking some very basic questions that are answered in the documentation, or in the archives of this email list" but bottom line some people are just lazy. They want the answer, not more work for themselves.
This is one place where AI might be helpful. It will never get tired of answering the same basic questions over and over again.
Barriers to entry aren't necessarily a bad thing. They weed out people who aren't willing to invest the minimum necessary effort. 95% of the complaints about mailing lists, forums, discord, wikis and the like revolve around leeches who aren't willing to...RTFM
