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The SO software is actually quite good for accumulating lists. It's the SO community that does not allow these questions. From what I can tell the SO moderato

by SteveJS 15y ago

The SO software is actually quite good for accumulating lists. It's the SO community that does not allow these questions. From what I can tell the SO moderators are evangelically convinced that any question involving an opinion (other than Jeff or Joel's) is the slippery slope to death by tragedy of the commons. It's like someone read Clay Shirky as Atkin's diet.

cruise02 15y ago
The SO software is terrible at accumulating lists. Count the duplicate entries in the datastructure question. Also, which one of those answers is the correct one? That's what the SO software is designed to help us find, and it fails here, as it does with any question involving an opinion (Jeff's, Joel's, or anyone else's).
- SteveJS 15y ago
  "Which of those answers is the correct one?" is not a problem if you are soliciting a list ... that's sometimes the point of the question. "The single right answer is what SO was designed to help us find" is precisely the community norm that I find less desirable. It wasn't there at the start, it is there now. That community norm was a product decision by Jeff (and possibly Joel). It has since been taken to extremes due to the self re-enforcing feedback loop of the community. It's treated as a sort of born-again revealed wisdom by the group. One could claim this limitation is the required tradeoff to attract the group that manages the site. That might be true ... but I don't blame the software. Did the software close Alan Kay's question as not constructive or was it a pair of moderators? What does non-constructive say: "This question is not a good fit to our Q&A format. We expect answers to generally involve facts, references, or specific expertise; this question will likely solicit opinion, debate, arguments, polling, or extended discussion. " Except answers to Kay's question do involve facts, reference, and specific expertise, as well as opinion, and debate. Is the question really non-constructive ... or is was it actually closed as a side effect of the community norm? The community norm is an over the top version of Godwin's law that opinion is a slippery slope to group death. It makes for a more focused product. The creators read this: http://shirky.com/writings/group_enemy.html http://shirky.com/writings/group_enemy.html Then cut the baby in half and kept the profitable half. I'm claiming part of what they threw away makes SO less pleasant for me to use as a contributor. I actually don't like that I contributed to something that treats debate and opinion as anathema.

by SteveJS 15y ago

cruise02 15y ago

The SO software is terrible at accumulating lists. Count the duplicate entries in the datastructure question. Also, which one of those answers is the correct one? That's what the SO software is designed to help us find, and it fails here, as it does with any question involving an opinion (Jeff's, Joel's, or anyone else's).

SteveJS 15y ago
"Which of those answers is the correct one?" is not a problem if you are soliciting a list ... that's sometimes the point of the question. "The single right answer is what SO was designed to help us find" is precisely the community norm that I find less desirable. It wasn't there at the start, it is there now. That community norm was a product decision by Jeff (and possibly Joel). It has since been taken to extremes due to the self re-enforcing feedback loop of the community. It's treated as a sort of born-again revealed wisdom by the group. One could claim this limitation is the required tradeoff to attract the group that manages the site. That might be true ... but I don't blame the software. Did the software close Alan Kay's question as not constructive or was it a pair of moderators? What does non-constructive say: "This question is not a good fit to our Q&A format. We expect answers to generally involve facts, references, or specific expertise; this question will likely solicit opinion, debate, arguments, polling, or extended discussion. " Except answers to Kay's question do involve facts, reference, and specific expertise, as well as opinion, and debate. Is the question really non-constructive ... or is was it actually closed as a side effect of the community norm? The community norm is an over the top version of Godwin's law that opinion is a slippery slope to group death. It makes for a more focused product. The creators read this: http://shirky.com/writings/group_enemy.html http://shirky.com/writings/group_enemy.html Then cut the baby in half and kept the profitable half. I'm claiming part of what they threw away makes SO less pleasant for me to use as a contributor. I actually don't like that I contributed to something that treats debate and opinion as anathema.