5 ms·

This is awful, another trick site that fools people into doing work that they could be getting paid to do, all for the joy of getting some "karma." Well kids, k

by troymc 10y ago

This is awful, another trick site that fools people into doing work that they could be getting paid to do, all for the joy of getting some "karma." Well kids, karma ain't gonna pay the rent. If you want to get experience volunteering to write documentation for software, then find the existing official documentation and add to that (or start it, preferably in a repository close to the actual code). Any profits that get made off this "documentation" (i.e. incoherent bag of examples) will not flow to the community or company behind the software in question. It's a parasite, leeching off the success of other projects which it neither created nor cares about. How did they get corporate partners for their launch? That's easy. It looks to those companies like free labor.

edgyswingset 10y ago
You're free to not use the site, I guess.
- fapjacks 10y ago
  Right. Until your documentation gets co-opted by this external, third-party, for-profit company. The Q&A site is fantastic. But this new documentation thing is going to be a nightmare.
orf 10y ago
The same could be said about the general idea behind Stackoverflow, except it's wrong. Sure, it's "free labour for internet points" but so is posting a project to Github and wanting stars. You're forgetting that it genuinely helps other people in your industry. Stackoverflow is an amazing resource for programmers, pretty much every question I type into google relating to a library or some software comes up with 3 or 4 stack overflow links that actually help me. If they can take the masses of questions which basically form ad-hoc documentation for tonnes of projects and put them in a cohesive place then how is this a bad thing? Because people don't get paid $0.01 per post or something? Perhaps any advertising revenue from the docs site could go towards something good, would this be better?
- Theodores 10y ago
  That last point is an excellent idea, I could live with that, knowing the project maintainers get ad revenue each time I look up my own examples and examples by others. This is great.
  - fapjacks 10y ago
    I'm guessing that will never happen in any meaningful way, if only because that's not as profitable as keeping everything they get.
hyperbovine 10y ago
> If you want to get experience volunteering to write documentation for software, then find the existing official documentation and add to that (or start it, preferably in a repository close to the actual code). Except, who does that? Let's face it, most of us would rather be coding than writing docs. Consequently, a large number of high-profile projects (I won't name names) have surprisingly crap documentation. If SO can find a way break that spell, more power to them.
blowski 10y ago
> karma ain't gonna pay the rent My StackOverflow profile helped me get a new job with a good payrise. It's also helped me a better developer. I'm absolutely ok with them making a profit, and they're a hell of a lot more ethical and useful than what went before them.
- visarga 10y ago
  Also, there's no better learning than when you teach the material to others. It's even being used as a didactic method (learning by teaching, peer learning).
orblivion 10y ago
Creative Commons SA. They're not selling content, they're selling a platform for sharing content.
dmsimpkins 10y ago
I think you're missing the point. Sure, getting "karma" is a fun aspect of SO, but I think what's beautiful about the site is the "give and take" aspect. Every programmer brings a different set of knowledge to the site, and every programmer also brings a different set of needs. And as long as people are not just using SO as tool for consumption, then the system is mutually beneficial for everyone. So, yes, while answering questions on the site does not pay the bills, what does pay the bills is my full time job as a developer. And I have been greatly helped in that job due to people donating their time, effort, and knowledge into SO. And that is why I don't see it as a waste of time to answer others' questions on the site or contribute to this documentation.
Alupis 10y ago
> This is awful, another trick site that fools people into doing work that they could be getting paid to do, all for the joy of getting some "karma." The worst part, imho, is moderators not getting a dime for all the work they do. They're the ones that really run the Stack Exchange sites.
visarga 10y ago
> karma ain't gonna pay the rent But other people's answers will help you solve your problem and earn your pay.

by troymc 10y ago

edgyswingset 10y ago

You're free to not use the site, I guess.

fapjacks 10y ago
Right. Until your documentation gets co-opted by this external, third-party, for-profit company. The Q&A site is fantastic. But this new documentation thing is going to be a nightmare.

orf 10y ago

The same could be said about the general idea behind Stackoverflow, except it's wrong. Sure, it's "free labour for internet points" but so is posting a project to Github and wanting stars. You're forgetting that it genuinely helps other people in your industry. Stackoverflow is an amazing resource for programmers, pretty much every question I type into google relating to a library or some software comes up with 3 or 4 stack overflow links that actually help me. If they can take the masses of questions which basically form ad-hoc documentation for tonnes of projects and put them in a cohesive place then how is this a bad thing? Because people don't get paid $0.01 per post or something? Perhaps any advertising revenue from the docs site could go towards something good, would this be better?

Theodores 10y ago
That last point is an excellent idea, I could live with that, knowing the project maintainers get ad revenue each time I look up my own examples and examples by others. This is great.
- fapjacks 10y ago
  I'm guessing that will never happen in any meaningful way, if only because that's not as profitable as keeping everything they get.

hyperbovine 10y ago

> If you want to get experience volunteering to write documentation for software, then find the existing official documentation and add to that (or start it, preferably in a repository close to the actual code). Except, who does that? Let's face it, most of us would rather be coding than writing docs. Consequently, a large number of high-profile projects (I won't name names) have surprisingly crap documentation. If SO can find a way break that spell, more power to them.

blowski 10y ago

> karma ain't gonna pay the rent My StackOverflow profile helped me get a new job with a good payrise. It's also helped me a better developer. I'm absolutely ok with them making a profit, and they're a hell of a lot more ethical and useful than what went before them.

visarga 10y ago
Also, there's no better learning than when you teach the material to others. It's even being used as a didactic method (learning by teaching, peer learning).

orblivion 10y ago

Creative Commons SA. They're not selling content, they're selling a platform for sharing content.

dmsimpkins 10y ago

I think you're missing the point. Sure, getting "karma" is a fun aspect of SO, but I think what's beautiful about the site is the "give and take" aspect. Every programmer brings a different set of knowledge to the site, and every programmer also brings a different set of needs. And as long as people are not just using SO as tool for consumption, then the system is mutually beneficial for everyone. So, yes, while answering questions on the site does not pay the bills, what does pay the bills is my full time job as a developer. And I have been greatly helped in that job due to people donating their time, effort, and knowledge into SO. And that is why I don't see it as a waste of time to answer others' questions on the site or contribute to this documentation.

Alupis 10y ago

> This is awful, another trick site that fools people into doing work that they could be getting paid to do, all for the joy of getting some "karma." The worst part, imho, is moderators not getting a dime for all the work they do. They're the ones that really run the Stack Exchange sites.

visarga 10y ago

> karma ain't gonna pay the rent But other people's answers will help you solve your problem and earn your pay.