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I think there are several factors in play here that should be considered.

I believe it's good practice to reference to the man pages for some questions that fits the right criteria, namely:

1. The question is about a terminal command.
2. The question is about the use of a specific identifiable command (e.g. ls).

In these cases I think it's recommended to explain where to find the asked functionality in the man (or even info) pages where relevant.

Optimally, the answer should include a quote of the relevant section of the man or info page, and then preferably a link to the Ubuntu man page for the relevant distro. In the case of ls on Ubuntu 22.04, this link should be included.

I have an answer that I think is a good example of referencing the info page for ls (because in this case, the additional description was in the info page, not the man page).

I also think there can be questions that are technical in nature (and fits the above criteria), where you could rightly say that if a user didn't even consult the man page first, it would qualify as lack of research. But this again would entirely depend on the nature of the question.

If the question is clearly from a novice user, trying to do their best using the terminal, then I wouldn't expect familiarity with man pages. But if the question is clearly from an expert user, involving advanced terminal options, then I would expect the user to have at least glanced at the man page as part of their research.

But this could very well be a gray area, as there could be some questions in between, where it's difficult to determine what could reasonably be expected from the user.

Finally, I believe the example @andrew.46 includes is a good example of what not to do. Since the question is more about generally getting some things to work properly (and thus I don't think it fits the criteria I just lined out), just referencing the entire man bash (without any more details given) is somewhat rude actually.

Conclusion

Answers or Comments that invite people to find their own answers in the man pages of the relevant application

These have no place on Ask Ubuntu.

An answer that point out that man foo, section about bar and quotes relevant parts of it may be a good answer.

But this would be the way to do it.

I think there are several factors in play here that should be considered.

I believe it's good practice to reference to the man pages for some questions that fits the right criteria, namely:

1. The question is about a terminal command.
2. The question is about the use of a specific identifiable command (e.g. ls).

In these cases I think it's recommended to explain where to find the asked functionality in the man (or even info) pages where relevant.

Optimally, the answer should include a quote of the relevant section of the man or info page, and then preferably a link to the Ubuntu man page for the relevant distro. In the case of ls on Ubuntu 22.04, this link should be included.

I have an answer that I think is a good example of referencing the info page for ls (because in this case, the additional description was in the info page, not the man page).

I also think there can be questions that are technical in nature (and fits the above criteria), where you could rightly say that if a user didn't even consult the man page first, it would qualify as lack of research. But this again would entirely depend on the nature of the question.

If the question is clearly from a novice user, trying to do their best using the terminal, then I wouldn't expect familiarity with man pages. But if the question is clearly from an expert user, involving advanced terminal options, then I would expect the user to have at least glanced at the man page as part of their research.

But this could very well be a gray area, as there could be some questions in between, where it's difficult to determine what could reasonably be expected from the user.

Finally, I believe the example @andrew.46 includes is a good example of what not to do. Since the question is more about generally getting some things to work properly (and thus I don't think it fits the criteria I just lined out), just referencing the entire man bash (without any more details given) is somewhat rude actually.

Conclusion

Answers or Comments that invite people to find their own answers in the man pages of the relevant application

These have no place on Ask Ubuntu.

An answer that point out that man foo, section about bar, and quotes relevant parts of it may be a good answer.

But this would be the way to do it.

I think there are several factors in play here that should be considered.

I believe it's good practice to reference to the man pages for some questions that fits the right criteria, namely:

1. The question is about a terminal command.
2. The question is about the use of a specific identifiable command (e.g. ls).

In these cases I think it's recommended to explain where to find the asked functionality in the man (or even info) pages where relevant.

Optimally, the answer should include a quote of the relevant section of the man or info page, and then preferably a link to the Ubuntu man page for the relevant distro. In the case of ls on Ubuntu 22.04, this link should be included.

I have an answer that I think is a good example of referencing the info page for ls (because in this case, the additional description was in the info page, not the man page).

I also think there can be questions that are technical in nature (and fits the above criteria), where you could rightly say that if a user didn't even consult the man page first, it would qualify as lack of research. But this again would entirely depend on the nature of the question.

If the question is clearly from a novice user, trying to do their best using the terminal, then I wouldn't expect familiarity with man pages. But if the question is clearly from an expert user, involving advanced terminal options, then I would expect the user to have at least glanced at the man page as part of their research.

But this could very well be a gray area, as there could be some questions in between, where it's difficult to determine what could reasonably be expected from the user.

Finally, I believe the example @andrew.46 includes is a good example of what not to do. Since the question is more about generally getting some things to work properly (and thus I don't think it fits the criteria I just lined out), just referencing the entire man bash (without any more details given) is somewhat rude actually.

I think there are several factors in play here that should be considered.

I believe it's good practice to reference to the man pages for some questions that fits the right criteria, namely:

1. The question is about a terminal command.
2. The question is about the use of a specific identifiable command (e.g. ls).

In these cases I think it's recommended to explain where to find the asked functionality in the man (or even info) pages where relevant.

Optimally, the answer should include a quote of the relevant section of the man or info page, and then preferably a link to the Ubuntu man page for the relevant distro. In the case of ls on Ubuntu 22.04, this link should be included.

I have an answer that I think is a good example of referencing the info page for ls (because in this case, the additional description was in the info page, not the man page).

I also think there can be questions that are technical in nature (and fits the above criteria), where you could rightly say that if a user didn't even consult the man page first, it would qualify as lack of research. But this again would entirely depend on the nature of the question.

If the question is clearly from a novice user, trying to do their best using the terminal, then I wouldn't expect familiarity with man pages. But if the question is clearly from an expert user, involving advanced terminal options, then I would expect the user to have at least glanced at the man page as part of their research.

But this could very well be a gray area, as there could be some questions in between, where it's difficult to determine what could reasonably be expected from the user.

Finally, I believe the example @andrew.46 includes is a good example of what not to do. Since the question is more about generally getting some things to work properly (and thus I don't think it fits the criteria I just lined out), just referencing the entire man bash (without any more details given) is somewhat rude actually.

Conclusion

Answers or Comments that invite people to find their own answers in the man pages of the relevant application

These have no place on Ask Ubuntu.

An answer that point out that man foo, section about bar and quotes relevant parts of it may be a good answer.

But this would be the way to do it.

I think there are several factors in play here that should be considered.

I believe it's good practice to reference to the man pages for some questions that fits the right criteria, namely:

1. The question is about a terminal command.
2. The question is about the use of a specific identifiable command (e.g. ls).

In these cases I think it's recommended to explain where to find the asked functionality in the man (or even info) pages where relevant.

Optimally, this should include the relevant section of the man or info page, and then preferably a link to the Ubuntu man page for the relevant distro. In the case of ls on Ubuntu 22.04, this link should be included.

I have an answer that I think is a good example of referencing the info page for ls (because in this case, the additional description was in the info page, not the man page).

I also think there can be questions that are technical in nature (and fits the above criteria), where you could rightly say that if a user didn't even consult the man page first, it would qualify as lack of research. But this again would entirely depend on the nature of the question.

If the question is clearly from a novice user, trying to do their best using the terminal, then no. But if the question is clearly from an expert user, involving advanced terminal options, then I would expect the user to have at least glanced at the man page.

But this could very well be a gray area, as there could be some questions in between, where it's difficult to determine what could reasonably be expected from the user.

Finally, I believe the example @andrew.46 includes is a good example of what not to do. Since the question is more about generally getting some things to work properly (and thus I don't think it fits the criteria I just lined out), just referencing man bash is somewhat rude actually.

I think there are several factors in play here that should be considered.

I believe it's good practice to reference to the man pages for some questions that fits the right criteria, namely:

1. The question is about a terminal command.
2. The question is about the use of a specific identifiable command (e.g. ls).

In these cases I think it's recommended to explain where to find the asked functionality in the man (or even info) pages where relevant.

Optimally, the answer should include a quote of the relevant section of the man or info page, and then preferably a link to the Ubuntu man page for the relevant distro. In the case of ls on Ubuntu 22.04, this link should be included.

I have an answer that I think is a good example of referencing the info page for ls (because in this case, the additional description was in the info page, not the man page).

I also think there can be questions that are technical in nature (and fits the above criteria), where you could rightly say that if a user didn't even consult the man page first, it would qualify as lack of research. But this again would entirely depend on the nature of the question.

If the question is clearly from a novice user, trying to do their best using the terminal, then I wouldn't expect familiarity with man pages. But if the question is clearly from an expert user, involving advanced terminal options, then I would expect the user to have at least glanced at the man page as part of their research.

But this could very well be a gray area, as there could be some questions in between, where it's difficult to determine what could reasonably be expected from the user.

Finally, I believe the example @andrew.46 includes is a good example of what not to do. Since the question is more about generally getting some things to work properly (and thus I don't think it fits the criteria I just lined out), just referencing the entire man bash (without any more details given) is somewhat rude actually.