What is your motivation to answer questions on this site?

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A couple of years ago, I got started answering questions on sites like this one because I kept finding the answers I needed and decided to try getting involved. Now I'm hooked. Some reasons I answer questions:

• Can often learn more by answering than by asking.
• My job partly involves promoting LibreOffice, and this is another way to do it, by helping other people learn how to use the software.
• Answering questions has taught me how to communicate better.
• Excellent way to stimulate brain activity, important for my health. Like doing a mental puzzle once a day, by browsing the new questions.
• Besides the actual benefits, it's also fun to see reputation points increase, and enjoyable to help people.

It is difficult to get started because, in the early days, your knowledge of LO is not all that great. I don't know of any easy way around this, although I fully sympathize. It takes time (years) and persistence.

And even if you are an expert, as I am now, there is always someone who knows more than you. In that case, when you answer a question and someone gives a better answer, then that means you just learned something, either something about LO or something about answering questions.

To me, it seems that this site could also really benefit from more people who simply read the questions and answers every day and help by upvoting good answers and adding comments for clarification when needed. This won't earn reputation points, but it is an important way that anyone can contribute and learn.

I have a long experience with text processing applications (and even a lighter one with DTP such as Quark XPress) and am aroused by the misuse of them when I have to work on shared (collaborative) documents. Instead of focusing my attention on the content and intent, I am hindered by the manual formatting obfuscating the meaning of the text and needing too much editing work.

I don't consider I have the ultimate Truth about how to use text applications but I developed a practical experience I try to share so that others may avoid errors I had to overcome, sometimes painfully.

Also, despite my long acquaintance with LO (more than 15 years), I still don't know all available features and don't practise all those I know of. This site is a source of valuable information. Since it has a low traffic, it is possible to skim over nearly all question and discover some aspects of LO. Even elementary questions can ring a bell and lead to a clue for other unrelated topic.

Finally, I benefit from free and open software. Answering questions is a way to pay back within my limited skills. Community support is as important as development so that there is a continuing public demand backing development effort.

Even though I'm still learning how to use LibreOffice, I try to pay back with help when I'm able since I have received a lot of help from others here.

The elevated version first:

I had a dream.
There was a table of stone. Suddenly words appeared ...

Let there be freedom in the realm of software.

Thou shalt not rule by marketing.
᠎    Thwart the attempt.
Thou shalt not sell the same thing again and again.
    Thwart it if some try.
Thou shalt not call a license or a form contract a product.
    Object those who do.
Thou shalt not believe ...

And the dream faded.

But in reality I came with a question to the late (Alas!) libreofficeforum​.​org and I stayed as a contributor. Then I started to also contribute to the ask.libreoffice.org (though I don't like it), and to the forum.openoffice.org.

I admire the retired Owen Genat, the very expert and prolific Vladislav Orlov, and many others I often don't know the true names of for their modest generosity, their patience, their readiness to spend time in support of others, and for deep knowledge and abilities. (I just cannot keep up in any respect.)

In addition there may be
- a helper syndrome (?)
- a teacher syndrome (!)
- age and retirement from professional teaching
- grandchildren too far away
- ambition
- conceitedness
- unmotorcyclable weather
- a strange kind of conscientiousness

You may scatter the plusses and the minusses yourself.

Altruism?

Sure! I want to share knowledge. I want to contribute to make this world a better place. Makes me feel that I am a valuable contributor to the community. Feels good, so I guess this is a selfish motivation. Can selfish objectives be considered altruistic? I don't know...

Sense of community

Again, being a part of something. Interacting with other people in a positive setting. Feels good.

Debt

Someone made an effort to create this software package, then made the product freely available. I benefit from that, and want to pay back by contributing to the product in any way I can.

Learning.

By searching for solutions to other people's issues, I learn new things.

When my efforts, delivered "to the best of my knowledge", are contested, I sometimes stand corrected. In this situation, the "best of my knowledge" is augmented. I learn even more.

When I receive comments, I learn a lot from those too. About software, language, understanding users' situations, typography and graphical design or personal relationships and interaction.

So in the end it seems that my best reason is in connection to my own learning. Not sure that it is the most important motivation, but it sure is one that counts.