archiebald:
Of course, there are some very helpful and patient people here, but unfortunately my impression is that they are far outnumbered by the "other type".
Hello Archibold,
I try to be the helpful type, I do not think I always succeed, but I do try. I agree with the frustrations and feedback posted by other between your post and this one, so am not going to repeat them. I am going to share another perspective though:
This is not a social media site. I am not here to make friends (although if that happens so much the better), I am not here to tell you how lovely your petunias look or how beautiful the sea looks where you spent your last holiday. I am here to provide technical advice to others trying to learn a deeply technical subject. Techie people are notorious for not being good socially. The people offering help are mostly techie types and so me well lack some of the social airs and graces. One regular contributor is so aware of this he reflected it in his name; you know how I mean. Ignore his manner, take his advice, he is a very clever and knowledgeable bloke. Technical conversations by their nature are generally short and to the point and lacking in the niceties of social conversation. From my own experience I can give a couple of examples: I work in telecoms, sometimes I install cat 5 / 6 cabling. I was working in a building with my business partner pulling in cables. My business partner was the other side of a wall and could hardly hear me, even if I shouted, because of this the conversation was limited to things like "STOP!", "PULL!", "WAIT" etc. Short and to the point, just enough to convey what was needed. On this particular occasion I took a phone call while running the cables, the person I spoke to, who obviously could not see our situation, was surprised and taken aback at how apparently rude we were being to each other. We were not being rude, we were saying what needed to be said to get the job done and no more. Some of the answers on here are like that, the include enough to provide help and no more. Some of my answers are like that too.
My second example is about the kind of industry you are in. My friend works for a national radio company, radio as in entertainment. One evening I visited him at one of their studios so he could show me round. He introduced me to one of the presenters, she immediately came up to me, a complete stranger, and gave me hug like I was a long lost friend. That's normal in the world of entertainment, it is not normal in the worlds of things technical. My point in telling you this is that your expectation of what counts are polite and friendly or rude an unhelpful might be very, very different to the expectations of the person trying to help. If you want to judge those of us trying to help please judge us by the quality of the help.
Finally, we are volunteers giving our free time to help others. If those asking the questions cannot respect that by at least showing some sign of having made an effort and some sign of trying to fit in with the rules of this site then they can expect a rough response.
Please, next time you see a rude response read the question that prompted it and ask if the respondent might have a point. Also read that respondent's other responses to see if they are generally rude if it is just the odd occasion. We get tired and have bad days, just like every one else.