CIRCLE WITH A DOT

I can feel some eager beaver preparing to split hairs on my language choice to find some kind of exception that makes their particular unhelpful answers OK, and to that person I just want to say: I didn't ask.

I just remembered the term 'netiquette', and I feel sad that it has fallen out of fashion.

Let it be, man. That question was not for you, and that's OK.

This goes triple if the question has caveats and specifics that are clearly articulated. That is someone who has already researched the question. You can go ahead and assume they have explored alternatives - it would be rude not to!

And if you see a question with specifics that preclude you from answering: don't get bent out of shape!

They don't owe you a question you can answer. They don't owe you the gratitude you want to receive concerning an answer that can't possibly help them.

This is your semi-regular reminder that if you don't know the answer to a question on the Internet, it's OK not to answer.

In fact, it's polite.

This is not a situation where it's you and one other person and they asked a question and it would be weird not to say something (in which case, 'I don't know' is good!). If they are asking a non-directed question in an open forum, they are asking if anyone here has answers, not for everyone here to answer.