Open Mike, I agree it's best to support other musicians by buying their CDs, but many of us can just not afford to buy a couple hundred CDs just because we want to learn that many songs, and not all single song recordings are available for purchase on iTunes.

As for figuring out chords, it is a skill worth developing, but it does take time for most of us, and looking up chords or lyrics on the net often yields a lot of variations (some of which are just plain wrong). I think a Mudcat thread can be ideal because the people who choose to volunteer their knowledge & expertise can - and will - debate such things where there are variations to be debated.   And, yes, it can be a great community experience.

Also, many artists (Joni Mitchell comes to mind) use open tunings or non-standard tunings such as DADGAD, and that can make it hard for a listener to 'hear' chords the way they would with someone using a standard EADGBE guitar tuning.    And, yes, there are tabs and passing chords and other riffs that aren't so easily designated by the chord names most of us know.

I'll just say that I find it instructive and interesting to see what varieties of chord patterns different people may use for the same basic melody, and I often end up modifying those too, because I want to use a different harmony, etc.

Nothing wrong with refraining from getting involved in a thread if you don't feel like being bothered, but I'm glad so many folkies really are willing to share their knowledge and skill.