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If you start making exceptions to rules then you're going to end up causing even more strife. I'm willing to pay the price to not get "what's the best programmi

by rtpg 13y ago

If you start making exceptions to rules then you're going to end up causing even more strife. I'm willing to pay the price to not get "what's the best programming language for X" style questions on SO (for example). On a related note, there's a blog post on the SO blog concerning closed questions, pretty interesting stuff.

billforsternz 13y ago
The trouble is that the proportion of quality content that ends up getting closed for arbitrary, capricious, and downright infuriating reasons (just read the text of the "explanation" in this case) is enormous. Often when looking for answers on Stack Overflow I find all of the useful answers are closed. This makes no sense and reflects the stubborn attitudes of the decision makers there, nothing else.
- rtpg 13y ago
  out of curiosity,do you have an example of useful answers that are closed? I've found a lot of interesting answers that are closed, but not really "useful" in the SO sense: something that answers a specific question.
  - billforsternz 13y ago
    Sorry, late reply; I suppose it comes down to the definition of "a specific question". Often I will be looking for recommended tools/resources/approaches. Look at something like http://stackoverflow.com/questions/17489/best-environment-for-python-on-windows http://stackoverflow.com/questions/17489/best-environment-fo... I like questions like this being closed, particularly if they draw out a ton of useful information like this one. Maybe my pain could be eased a little if they had some better boilerplate explanations. To me "Not constructive" in this case is just misleading, wrong and rude.
    - billforsternz 13y ago
      s/like/don't like
MarkMc 13y ago
Sure, but in this case the moderators were clearly wrong for closing the the question for being 'too localised': "It is only relevant to a small geographic area". No, the question is just as relevant in Louisiana, Lithuania and Liberia. "It is only relevant to a specific moment in time". No, the question is just as relevant now as it was 50 years ago and will be in 50 years. "It is an extraordinarily narrow situation that is not generally applicable to the worldwide audience of the internet". No, it an extraordinarily broad mathematical question that clearly has appeal to a very large, worldwide audience. In western society there are almost always checks on the use of power. A policeman was too violent when making an arrest? He can be reprimanded or fired. Politician accepted a bribe? He could be locked up. Businessmen colluded to keep prices high? They could be fined heavily. The 'justice' of our system is so pervasive that we take it for granted, which means it can be very frustrating to experience the unjust use of power without possibility of redress. This case is a minor example, but it must feel like a slap in the face to the person who posted this question on Stack Exchange.

by rtpg 13y ago

billforsternz 13y ago

The trouble is that the proportion of quality content that ends up getting closed for arbitrary, capricious, and downright infuriating reasons (just read the text of the "explanation" in this case) is enormous. Often when looking for answers on Stack Overflow I find all of the useful answers are closed. This makes no sense and reflects the stubborn attitudes of the decision makers there, nothing else.

rtpg 13y ago
out of curiosity,do you have an example of useful answers that are closed? I've found a lot of interesting answers that are closed, but not really "useful" in the SO sense: something that answers a specific question.
- billforsternz 13y ago
  Sorry, late reply; I suppose it comes down to the definition of "a specific question". Often I will be looking for recommended tools/resources/approaches. Look at something like http://stackoverflow.com/questions/17489/best-environment-for-python-on-windows http://stackoverflow.com/questions/17489/best-environment-fo... I like questions like this being closed, particularly if they draw out a ton of useful information like this one. Maybe my pain could be eased a little if they had some better boilerplate explanations. To me "Not constructive" in this case is just misleading, wrong and rude.
  - billforsternz 13y ago
    s/like/don't like

MarkMc 13y ago

Sure, but in this case the moderators were clearly wrong for closing the the question for being 'too localised': "It is only relevant to a small geographic area". No, the question is just as relevant in Louisiana, Lithuania and Liberia. "It is only relevant to a specific moment in time". No, the question is just as relevant now as it was 50 years ago and will be in 50 years. "It is an extraordinarily narrow situation that is not generally applicable to the worldwide audience of the internet". No, it an extraordinarily broad mathematical question that clearly has appeal to a very large, worldwide audience. In western society there are almost always checks on the use of power. A policeman was too violent when making an arrest? He can be reprimanded or fired. Politician accepted a bribe? He could be locked up. Businessmen colluded to keep prices high? They could be fined heavily. The 'justice' of our system is so pervasive that we take it for granted, which means it can be very frustrating to experience the unjust use of power without possibility of redress. This case is a minor example, but it must feel like a slap in the face to the person who posted this question on Stack Exchange.