4 ms·

Help Arduino Stack Exchange reach beta by committing to it

43 points by Manishearth 14y ago

carbocation 14y ago
Good idea. So far it looks weirdly unfriendly, though: > Example Question: How do I decide whether to use Arduino or Rasperry Pi for my project? > Top-voted Example Answer: These two devices are so different that it's hard to answer that question. One is a credit card sized Linux computer, the other is an entry level firmware / electronics kit.
- Manishearth 14y ago
  The site hasn't launched yet. Those are example questions to clarify the scope of the site. And yes, that question is a bit broad, can't do much about that. Broad questions on the actual site will probably be closed. Not sure about this one.
  - reeses 14y ago
    I suspect that particular question would become a community wiki instead. Otherwise, they'll have to swat that question down 10x/day.
    - Manishearth 14y ago
      Nah, community wiki is no longer used for questions except in special cases.
- tptacek 14y ago
  It's also not a hard question to answer; in fact, it seems like a pretty easy one to answer, and helpful, to boot. It's basically asking "when do you want to use a microcontroller instead of full-blown SOC running an OS".
- Manishearth 14y ago
  Oh, also, that's a comment. That's for discussing the value of the example question. There's no "example answer". Once the site launches then there will be proper Qs and As
- pasbesoin 14y ago
  People entering a topic are always going to have "meta" questions. One of their first efforts may be establishing a proper understanding of context. If you want to be a friendly and encouraging community, help them out. Don't chase them off; you've just lost a potential member. That said, better to have a very good, defining resource, rather than to be constantly re-answering (in full text, as opposed to citation) the same question. A few iterations of Q/A on the topic should produce a sufficient answer -- "organically", form someone with the time, knowledge, and communication skills -- to subsequently serve as such. No need necessarily to force an external context for such information/resources. Not when it's so easy to "deep link" to them in situ.
mercuryrising 14y ago
I hope Stack Exchange doesn't rule with an iron fist about on topic questions. If I ask how to determine the resistor for an LED, I have a feeling they will close it as "Not specific to Arduino, go to the general Electrical Engineering exchange". One of the hardest parts of learning something new is just trying to get bearings on the type of questions to ask, and getting extremely specific with question categorization does nothing but hurt those trying to learn.
- afandian 14y ago
  I think that whilst there are relevant SEs, the question will be moved the appropriate one if the people are as helpful as stackoverflow (all I have experience of). Which is fine, because it's in the right subject and gets the best possible answer without duplication. The trouble comes with knowing where to ask. Lucky stackexchange has a searchbox that covers all sites.
- Manishearth 14y ago
  They don't do that, they migrate the question. You just need to flag and ask for migration.
revelation 14y ago
Not sure what to think about an Arduino SE. I think that needlessly narrows the scope. It's like a Windows Server SE when the original intent was to do a server administration SE. Here the intent was probably around microcontrollers and embedded development.
- DuiNoob 14y ago
  I'm thinking it might more likely be a nice "question doesn't fit perfectly on other sites" Stack Overflow type site: For those people the Arduino official charter talks about, people who don't want to get pushed into being electronics experts nor software programmers, just want to make magic with the Arduino as a user - intended for artists, designers, hobbyists, and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments, as Arduino.cc says. I think it's needed, I hope it happens.
pow-tac 14y ago
In my opinion the official arduino lacks of good features. It's 2000 style kind of forum. Find details here: http://arduino.cc/forum/index.php/topic,158796.msg1189123.html#msg1189123 http://arduino.cc/forum/index.php/topic,158796.msg1189123.ht... Whereas SO with editing wiki features and a clean tagging mechanism leads to a very clean Q&A knowledge base. Which implicit builds a good API documentation.
- reeses 14y ago
  arduino.cc is about as polished at the standard IDE. :-) I agree that a StackExchange site for Arduino, or even "hobby embedded electronics," which could cover the BASIC Stamp and other devices, would be a much better aggregation of expertise and information.
Manishearth 14y ago
Thanks everyone for the support. The site has reached its goal and will probably go into private beta in <a week. :)

43 points by Manishearth 14y ago

Good idea. So far it looks weirdly unfriendly, though: > Example Question: How do I decide whether to use Arduino or Rasperry Pi for my project? > Top-voted Example Answer: These two devices are so different that it's hard to answer that question. One is a credit card sized Linux computer, the other is an entry level firmware / electronics kit.

Manishearth 14y ago
The site hasn't launched yet. Those are example questions to clarify the scope of the site. And yes, that question is a bit broad, can't do much about that. Broad questions on the actual site will probably be closed. Not sure about this one.
- reeses 14y ago
  I suspect that particular question would become a community wiki instead. Otherwise, they'll have to swat that question down 10x/day.
  - Manishearth 14y ago
    Nah, community wiki is no longer used for questions except in special cases.
tptacek 14y ago
It's also not a hard question to answer; in fact, it seems like a pretty easy one to answer, and helpful, to boot. It's basically asking "when do you want to use a microcontroller instead of full-blown SOC running an OS".
Manishearth 14y ago
Oh, also, that's a comment. That's for discussing the value of the example question. There's no "example answer". Once the site launches then there will be proper Qs and As
pasbesoin 14y ago
People entering a topic are always going to have "meta" questions. One of their first efforts may be establishing a proper understanding of context. If you want to be a friendly and encouraging community, help them out. Don't chase them off; you've just lost a potential member. That said, better to have a very good, defining resource, rather than to be constantly re-answering (in full text, as opposed to citation) the same question. A few iterations of Q/A on the topic should produce a sufficient answer -- "organically", form someone with the time, knowledge, and communication skills -- to subsequently serve as such. No need necessarily to force an external context for such information/resources. Not when it's so easy to "deep link" to them in situ.

mercuryrising 14y ago

I hope Stack Exchange doesn't rule with an iron fist about on topic questions. If I ask how to determine the resistor for an LED, I have a feeling they will close it as "Not specific to Arduino, go to the general Electrical Engineering exchange". One of the hardest parts of learning something new is just trying to get bearings on the type of questions to ask, and getting extremely specific with question categorization does nothing but hurt those trying to learn.

afandian 14y ago
I think that whilst there are relevant SEs, the question will be moved the appropriate one if the people are as helpful as stackoverflow (all I have experience of). Which is fine, because it's in the right subject and gets the best possible answer without duplication. The trouble comes with knowing where to ask. Lucky stackexchange has a searchbox that covers all sites.
Manishearth 14y ago
They don't do that, they migrate the question. You just need to flag and ask for migration.

revelation 14y ago

Not sure what to think about an Arduino SE. I think that needlessly narrows the scope. It's like a Windows Server SE when the original intent was to do a server administration SE. Here the intent was probably around microcontrollers and embedded development.

DuiNoob 14y ago
I'm thinking it might more likely be a nice "question doesn't fit perfectly on other sites" Stack Overflow type site: For those people the Arduino official charter talks about, people who don't want to get pushed into being electronics experts nor software programmers, just want to make magic with the Arduino as a user - intended for artists, designers, hobbyists, and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments, as Arduino.cc says. I think it's needed, I hope it happens.

pow-tac 14y ago

In my opinion the official arduino lacks of good features. It's 2000 style kind of forum. Find details here: http://arduino.cc/forum/index.php/topic,158796.msg1189123.html#msg1189123 http://arduino.cc/forum/index.php/topic,158796.msg1189123.ht... Whereas SO with editing wiki features and a clean tagging mechanism leads to a very clean Q&A knowledge base. Which implicit builds a good API documentation.

reeses 14y ago
arduino.cc is about as polished at the standard IDE. :-) I agree that a StackExchange site for Arduino, or even "hobby embedded electronics," which could cover the BASIC Stamp and other devices, would be a much better aggregation of expertise and information.

Manishearth 14y ago

Thanks everyone for the support. The site has reached its goal and will probably go into private beta in <a week. :)