(I think it's sort of a travesty that people can be hostile to newcomers - it seems to happen on every forum)

In this case, I don't think they think they're being hostile--I've seen a lot of talk about how to make the site more accessible to new people. They are, perhaps, trying to preserve the SNR or save the newbie from making obvious mistakes. But as the previous commenter noted, mistakes are a great way to learn.