I clearly stated in my "answer" that I intended to leave it as a comment to their post, but could not because of SE's minimum rep (50) to comment. Then I was chastised by a senior user for not instead posting as a comment.
This is the most unwelcoming part of SE sites. I'm sure the reasons are well-intentioned for disabling comments for new users (not wanting to turn Q threads into off-topic forum discussion), but the result of that disabling is forcing new users to either A) not contribute at all and just shut up and wait for the right reputation to magically bestow itself upon the them or B) post as an answer. I agree that using the answer space is sub-optimal, but I believed that I could make a contribution, if not for the community as a whole, then at least for the lost soul who posted the question.
The whole castigation of new members for straying outside the lines makes the community even less welcoming and adds insult to injury.
I know I'm not entitled to be able to post anywhere I want on the internet and ya'll can run things as you see fit, but the "belonging curve" is quite a bit more steep on SE than other websites.