As the original no-sayer, I'll explain my position.

If someone you have little or no obligations to asks you a simple question, both "yes" and "no" are valid answers, and the one asking should expect to receive one of both.

With the question I responded to, it wasn't clear to me why just a plain "no" or a "no, I'm sorry" was not an option. Some people find it difficult to say no, so they need to be reminded that it is an option to say no, without further justification.

That question inspired me to update the usage guidance for saying-no to read

Questions about how best to approach saying "no", or declining requests. Please explain in your question why just saying "no" is not sufficient.

_{(Emphasis mine)}

So from now on, I expect a question to explain why a simple "no" is not an option, and any answer that advocates a simple "no" as a response to explain why that is the case.

As an original no-sayer, I'll explain my position.

If someone you have little or no obligations to asks you a simple question, both "yes" and "no" are valid answers, and the one asking should expect to receive one of both.

With the question I responded to, it wasn't clear to me why just a plain "no" or a "no, I'm sorry" was not an option. Some people find it difficult to say no, so they need to be reminded that it is an option to say no, without further justification.

That question inspired me to update the usage guidance for saying-no to read

Questions about how best to approach saying "no", or declining requests. Please explain in your question why just saying "no" is not sufficient.

_{(Emphasis mine)}

So from now on, I expect a question to explain why a simple "no" is not an option, and any answer that advocates a simple "no" as a response to explain why that is the case.