The day I stopped looking for free handouts and became self-sufficient in
my ability to find the answers myself was the day someone told me to RTFM
a few years ago. It was a friend of mine and it was a little hurtful. But
he was right! The answer was right in the man page.
Then I felt stupid for asking.
Since then my skills at troubleshooting went through the roof. You can
literally train yourself to be a walking encyclopedia not by knowing the
answer but by knowing how to find the answer without anyones help.
Sometimes it takes a mean push to get someone on the right track. You
might not like it but you can't deny the results it can bring.
Agreed 100%. Heck I'm an accountant, not even a computer programmer, and even I can help people out now because of a RTFM comment I received a long time ago ;)
People need to learn how to help themselves. When it's clear that a person just doesn't understand some concept yet has put effort into understanding their problem then I push them to the area of the manual that will explain it to them. The manual is there for a very good reason and it is an excellent reference tool.
Teach a man to fish...