There seems to be a knee-jerk reaction to "easy" questions that involve quickly answering by copy/pasting embarrassing links to lmgtfy.com
(or similar responses in comments, which aren't downvotable) in an attempt to belittle the questions' authors. I think this comes from engagement in forums, where people would ask simple questions like "What is a variable?"
I would argue that we should NOT do this. As Stack Overflow grows, it is quickly becoming THE source of Google's suggestions. For instance, yesterday I did a quick search on Google for a particular framework, and Stack Overflow came up in the top three results.
Joel expressed a desire in recent podcasts to see Stack Overflow as the ultimate source for all programming-related questions. I am sympathetic of this view, as I would like to see all questions (including "What is a variable?") welcomed on Stack Overflow, because it is the best place for those questions to be asked.
Answers are voted upon, which is something that doesn't take place in most other locations. Answers are clarified by the community, something else that isn't happening elsewhere. Questions can be revised by just about anybody. And revision history is there for all to see.
So perhaps in the future, the next time somebody asks how many variables can be put on a page, we should kindly embrace them, and not send them on to Google. Stack Overflow is the ultimate destination — not Google. Sorry, Larry and Sergey.
Related FAQ: How should we deal with Google questions?
naive
ornovice
orelementary
tag for questions like this?