3 ms·

Just as the article observes, it's really ironic that many, many google searches for "how to do X in language Y" lead to questions on SO that are marked as [clo

by niftich 10y ago

Just as the article observes, it's really ironic that many, many google searches for "how to do X in language Y" lead to questions on SO that are marked as [closed], 'not a good question', etc. Often, the accepted answer is a variation of RTFM, but sometimes with an inline code example. Also ironic is when the question asks for help in choosing between frameworks or libraries of comparable functionality and it gets marked as [closed] 'opinion-based'. What's a good question then? I understand that SO wants/wanted to discourage becoming just a copy-pastable repository of code snippets for common patterns, and that they also don't want to be full of thinly-veiled marketing posts about why framework X is better than its competitors. But then what content DO they want? (Rhetorical, but in-depth questions about API usage are probably the best ones to ask.) I treat SO as read-only, and that makes it a valuable resource for me.

edem 10y ago
> What's a good question then? Read the FAQ and you will know.
- reitanqild 10y ago
  I find that my definition of for instance "primarily opinion based" or "not constructive" differ by a wide margin from some people at SO. So no, just reading the rules might not help everyone I'm afraid. This is more like case law than physics I'm afraid.
- jedberg 10y ago
  With respect, I have to vehemently disagree. I've been using the site since the beta, have thousands of karma and twenty+ years of experience, and yet I can't ask or answer a question anymore. When I answer a question, it gets downvoted and then an inaccurate answer gets accepted and upvoted. When I ask a question, it gets marked as a duplicate, and then they link to the question it's a duplicate of, which is a question I found in my own research that was exactly the opposite of the question I had. That community has become completely toxic and I can't participate it in anymore.
  - edem 10y ago
    I experience the exact opposite. Maybe something else is going on.

by niftich 10y ago

edem 10y ago

> What's a good question then? Read the FAQ and you will know.

reitanqild 10y ago
I find that my definition of for instance "primarily opinion based" or "not constructive" differ by a wide margin from some people at SO. So no, just reading the rules might not help everyone I'm afraid. This is more like case law than physics I'm afraid.
jedberg 10y ago
With respect, I have to vehemently disagree. I've been using the site since the beta, have thousands of karma and twenty+ years of experience, and yet I can't ask or answer a question anymore. When I answer a question, it gets downvoted and then an inaccurate answer gets accepted and upvoted. When I ask a question, it gets marked as a duplicate, and then they link to the question it's a duplicate of, which is a question I found in my own research that was exactly the opposite of the question I had. That community has become completely toxic and I can't participate it in anymore.
- edem 10y ago
  I experience the exact opposite. Maybe something else is going on.