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I know that some of these questions are annoying, and yes I think requiring some effort would be best.

However, sometimes these come from absolute raw beginners (who may be genuine or not).

Do we want to be welcoming to beginners? Is it OK to answer with a shove in the right direction, short of a full-blown tutorial? Is there no middle ground perhaps, or do we just not answer at all?

I'm torn between the choices to be honest. I don't mind helping beginners if I can work out what they are actually asking (which is often virtually impossible). But if I can push them in the right direction, then I think such answers are valid.

I try to not answer with full-blown tutorials, but I admit sometimes I can get a little carried away in that direction. I think that most of us are probably on GDSE out of a desire to be helpful, or to learn new things ourselves. Getting additional rep from being a little overly altruistic surely isn't quite a sin.

EDIT: Having thought about this for a while, I've now decided to vote YES to the above. However, I agree there is an issue with lazy questions, but I feel actively discouraging people from answering them at all is perhaps a bit too extreme. After all, no one is being forced to answer questions.

I know that some of these questions are annoying, and yes I think requiring some effort would be best.

However, sometimes these come from absolute raw beginners (who may be genuine or not).

Do we want to be welcoming to beginners? Is it OK to answer with a shove in the right direction, short of a full-blown tutorial? Is there no middle ground perhaps, or do we just not answer at all?

I'm torn between the choices to be honest. I don't mind helping beginners if I can work out what they are actually asking (which is often virtually impossible). But if I can push them in the right direction, then I think such answers are valid.

I try to not answer with full-blown tutorials, but I admit sometimes I can get a little carried away in that direction. I think that most of us are probably on GDSE out of a desire to be helpful, or to learn new things ourselves. Getting additional rep from being a little overly altruistic surely isn't quite a sin.

EDIT: Having thought about this for a while, I've now decided to vote YES to the above. However, I agree there is an issue with lazy questions, but I feel actively discouraging people from answering them is perhaps a bit too extreme. After all, no one is being forced to answer questions.

I know that some of these questions are annoying, and yes I think requiring some effort would be best.

However, sometimes these come from absolute raw beginners (who may be genuine or not).

Do we want to be welcoming to beginners? Is it OK to answer with a shove in the right direction, short of a full-blown tutorial? Is there no middle ground perhaps, or do we just not answer at all?

I'm torn between the choices to be honest. I don't mind helping beginners if I can work out what they are actually asking (which is often virtually impossible). But if I can push them in the right direction, then I think such answers are valid.

I try to not answer with full-blown tutorials, but I admit sometimes I can get a little carried away in that direction. I think that most of us are probably on GDSE out of a desire to be helpful, or to learn new things ourselves. Getting additional rep from being a little overly altruistic surely isn't quite a sin.

I know that some of these questions are annoying, and yes I think requiring some effort would be best.

However, sometimes these come from absolute raw beginners (who may be genuine or not).

Do we want to be welcoming to beginners? Is it OK to answer with a shove in the right direction, short of a full-blown tutorial? Is there no middle ground perhaps, or do we just not answer at all?

I'm torn between the choices to be honest. I don't mind helping beginners if I can work out what they are actually asking (which is often virtually impossible). But if I can push them in the right direction, then I think such answers are valid.

I try to not answer with full-blown tutorials, but I admit sometimes I can get a little carried away in that direction. I think that most of us are probably on GDSE out of a desire to be helpful, or to learn new things ourselves. Getting additional rep from being a little overly altruistic surely isn't quite a sin.

EDIT: Having thought about this for a while, I've now decided to vote YES to the above. However, I agree there is an issue with lazy questions, but I feel actively discouraging people from answering them at all is perhaps a bit too extreme. After all, no one is being forced to answer questions.

I know that some of these questions are annoying, and yes I think requiring some effort would be best.

However, sometimes these come from absolute raw beginners (who may be genuine or not).

Do we want to be welcoming to beginners? Is it OK to answer with a shove in the right direction, short of a full-blown tutorial? Is there no middle ground perhaps, or do we just not answer at all?

I'm torn between the choices to be honest. I don't mind helping beginners if I can work out what they are actually asking (which is often virtually impossible). But if I can push them in the right direction, then I think such answers are valid.

I try to not answer with full-blown tutorials, but I admit sometimes I can get a little carried away in that direction.

I know that some of these questions are annoying, and yes I think requiring some effort would be best.

However, sometimes these come from absolute raw beginners (who may be genuine or not).

Do we want to be welcoming to beginners? Is it OK to answer with a shove in the right direction, short of a full-blown tutorial? Is there no middle ground perhaps, or do we just not answer at all?

I'm torn between the choices to be honest. I don't mind helping beginners if I can work out what they are actually asking (which is often virtually impossible). But if I can push them in the right direction, then I think such answers are valid.

I try to not answer with full-blown tutorials, but I admit sometimes I can get a little carried away in that direction. I think that most of us are probably on GDSE out of a desire to be helpful, or to learn new things ourselves. Getting additional rep from being a little overly altruistic surely isn't quite a sin.