4 ms·

Thus creating a closed loop ecosystem that grows increasingly stale.

by pbsdp 13y ago

belorn 13y ago
Requiring familiarization with a system before the power to change things is very very basic. Any open source project require it. I can't directly go and get a patch accepted into the kernel without familiarize myself with the project, the code, and the process of suggesting a patch. I can't request a youtube video to be deleted/undeleted without reading about youtubes process. familiarization is the basic of the basic requirement for doing anything anywhere.
- mkr-hn 13y ago
  Information on how to contribute to the kernel--and most big open source projects--is readily available in multiple formats. This is the first I've heard that Stack Overflow has an appeal process. Compare: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=contributing+to+stack+overflow https://duckduckgo.com/?q=contributing+to+stack+overflow https://duckduckgo.com/?q=contributing+to+the+linux+kernel https://duckduckgo.com/?q=contributing+to+the+linux+kernel https://duckduckgo.com/?q=contributing+to+audacity https://duckduckgo.com/?q=contributing+to+audacity https://duckduckgo.com/?q=contributing+to+gnu https://duckduckgo.com/?q=contributing+to+gnu The closest I found to an answer on SO was marked as a duplicate by several people with no link to the previous answer.
  - belorn 13y ago
    So the issue is not that people have to familiarize with the SO process, but rather that the SO process is badly documented. Maybe a bit circular, but maybe someone should post on SO meta to improve the documentation?
    - pbsdp 13y ago
      The problem is that you have a complex and exclusionary process to begin with. The comparison with open-source isn't apt; inclusion in the mainline of an open-source project affects every user of that project. Keeping code that does not fit with the goals of the project negatively impacts existing users of that project. Not so for SO questions, or for Wikipedia pages; a page or question you never see, but contains useful information you don't personally think is notable (or "constructive"), costs you nothing to keep. This is just the Wikipedia editorial/deletionist problem. Some people are more interested in enacting and enforcing process and community "norms".

Thus creating a closed loop ecosystem that grows increasingly stale.

by pbsdp 13y ago

Thus creating a closed loop ecosystem that grows increasingly stale.

Requiring familiarization with a system before the power to change things is very very basic. Any open source project require it. I can't directly go and get a patch accepted into the kernel without familiarize myself with the project, the code, and the process of suggesting a patch. I can't request a youtube video to be deleted/undeleted without reading about youtubes process. familiarization is the basic of the basic requirement for doing anything anywhere.

mkr-hn 13y ago
Information on how to contribute to the kernel--and most big open source projects--is readily available in multiple formats. This is the first I've heard that Stack Overflow has an appeal process. Compare: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=contributing+to+stack+overflow https://duckduckgo.com/?q=contributing+to+stack+overflow https://duckduckgo.com/?q=contributing+to+the+linux+kernel https://duckduckgo.com/?q=contributing+to+the+linux+kernel https://duckduckgo.com/?q=contributing+to+audacity https://duckduckgo.com/?q=contributing+to+audacity https://duckduckgo.com/?q=contributing+to+gnu https://duckduckgo.com/?q=contributing+to+gnu The closest I found to an answer on SO was marked as a duplicate by several people with no link to the previous answer.
- belorn 13y ago
  So the issue is not that people have to familiarize with the SO process, but rather that the SO process is badly documented. Maybe a bit circular, but maybe someone should post on SO meta to improve the documentation?
  - pbsdp 13y ago
    The problem is that you have a complex and exclusionary process to begin with. The comparison with open-source isn't apt; inclusion in the mainline of an open-source project affects every user of that project. Keeping code that does not fit with the goals of the project negatively impacts existing users of that project. Not so for SO questions, or for Wikipedia pages; a page or question you never see, but contains useful information you don't personally think is notable (or "constructive"), costs you nothing to keep. This is just the Wikipedia editorial/deletionist problem. Some people are more interested in enacting and enforcing process and community "norms".