There's nothing wrong with asking questions and putting yourself out there as someone who's just getting rolling.

If you ask the most painfully obvious questions that have turned up a million times over that's a different matter, but I've seen newcomers ask things that I either didn't know or hadn't reflected on. If everyone knew everything there wouldn't be much of a need to discuss anything.

I think that's why off topic and the section in question have become ghettoes. Newcomers seem to be more comfortable discussing things that have nothing to do with the subject of the forum. They're not going to produce any customers for the companies paying for advertising space.