There's a danger in taking Star Trek too literally; they often break their own rules in order to suit the needs of their plots. That said...
The warp drive rule was a threshold thing. Before a civilization reaches warp drive, they're not supposed to receive any help at all, even with technologies that they've discovered. Once they reach warp drive, then it's time to make first contact and start to tell them about the galactic birds and bees.
Warp drive is a beautifully natural threshold within the Star Trek universe. Unfortunately, in our world today, we don't always have nice boundaries like that. Is trap-disarming for gorillas a threshold event analogous to warp drive, or is it more like a significant but ultimately incremental step in a long journey? I don't think there are any easy answers.
The warp drive rule was a threshold thing. Before a civilization reaches warp drive, they're not supposed to receive any help at all, even with technologies that they've discovered. Once they reach warp drive, then it's time to make first contact and start to tell them about the galactic birds and bees.
Warp drive is a beautifully natural threshold within the Star Trek universe. Unfortunately, in our world today, we don't always have nice boundaries like that. Is trap-disarming for gorillas a threshold event analogous to warp drive, or is it more like a significant but ultimately incremental step in a long journey? I don't think there are any easy answers.