Must you sign up on the forum before you can learn? I don’t think so, the OP might be getting all the necessary informations which he needs without creating a account here, if the Op says he hasn’t been visiting the forum or learning anyhow here, I will have said it’s a complete waste of time, but since the OP is learning, then I don’t have any problem with that. Even if the OP created account and doesn’t have any reasonable thing to post, So visiting the forum without creating an account here is not a bad thing.
You're correct there, the op could learn without signing up but there are times were we understand more better when we ask questions directed to the problem we are facing at that present time. Especially if you're working on something technical and you encountered a problem that is strange from all that you've read. The Bitcoin technical board could be of good help to ask questions, as you'll meet so many experienced users/programmer there that might have a clue of what your experiencing. No one said visiting the forum without creating an account is a bad thing, but from what we have at hand now, after the op has spent all these time just visiting the forum, assuming he used all those years to interact with members here, he would have gained more that what he has now.