Timeline for Dealing with "Find out who's going to buy the croissants"
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
33 events
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| Mar 20, 2017 at 10:30 | history | edited | CommunityBot |
replaced http://meta.stackexchange.com/ with https://meta.stackexchange.com/
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| Apr 24, 2014 at 13:50 | history | edited | CommunityBot |
Migration of MSO links to MSE links
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| Aug 2, 2013 at 8:59 | comment | added | tom_q | ... For example, the current top 5 answers are only random in a very generous interpretation of the term, and the only genuinely random answers are relegated to the end (but what did "pseudo-random" meant anyway?). The top 5 answers also vary greatly in how they measure "fairness": number of times croissants are bought, number of croissants bought, based on the ratio croissants bought/eaten or the difference croissants bought/eaten, based on time since joining the company, based on time spent at the company (excluding holidays), etc. | |
| Aug 2, 2013 at 8:50 | comment | added | tom_q | @FlorianMargaine I have spent a lot of time producing one of the answers and responding to objections. Your question was indeed too vague. Your requirement for "pseudo-randomness" has as many interpretations as there are answers. Same for "everyone should buy croissants as many times as the others": interpreted literally, this requirement makes little sense (unless you want new employees to "catch up" with old ones). As a result, interpretations of what is "fair" vary greatly from one answer to the next. With two unknown variables in the question, there is an infinity of valid best answers. | |
| Jul 31, 2013 at 13:51 | comment | added | user7116 | @FlorianMargaine: you have enough time on site to know better...sigh. | |
| Jul 26, 2013 at 21:36 | comment | added | Stijn | @MarkRansom Where in my comment did I say such a thing? | |
| Jul 26, 2013 at 15:33 | comment | added | Mark Ransom | @Stijn don't assume everyone shares your motivations. | |
| Jul 26, 2013 at 0:38 | comment | added | Maks | @Sklivvz please stop repeating that the answer is "really trivial". It is not both within the constraints specified in the questions and the environment it is expected to run in (script lang, cron job, db access etc). | |
| Jul 25, 2013 at 13:09 | comment | added | Stijn | I don't come to SO to have fun, I come for relevant information. When I have a similar problem, I don't care about your croissant ramblings and your pretty picture, it's just in my way. | |
| Jul 24, 2013 at 20:35 | comment | added | Gilles 'SO- stop being evil' | I think the question is an interesting one, but borderline for SO (though not at all for the reasons why it was closed). I've reposted it in my own words on Computer Science. | |
| Jul 24, 2013 at 17:29 | comment | added | Caleb | @FlorianMargaine re: "seeing the number of different answers" -- that is exactly the detail that makes me think this is not a good fit for the site. There is no one or even a handful of really right answers and judging which ones are better is very subjective. That's not a very SO MO if you know what I mean. | |
| Jul 24, 2013 at 17:08 | comment | added | kojiro | I've taken a great deal of effort to write good, on-topic, and researched questions with detail and I'm pretty sure they sometimes get ignored for being too detailed (tl;dr) or too specific about the subject matter. Not closed, just ignored. Apparently I could've asked a much looser question and stuck a picture of candy at the top. So sure, I'm a little angry and jealous. I won't make a pejorative of fun if you don't make one of anger. But let's not make fun cost StackOverflow its usefulness. It's more fun when it's useful. | |
| Jul 24, 2013 at 16:57 | comment | added | KatieK | I think that you have a business problem which needs more definition before software development can begin. | |
| Jul 24, 2013 at 16:44 | comment | added | Sklivvz | Not all algorithms are language or platform agnostic. Example: programmable calculators; Excel algorithms on a e.g. linux server; Non-coding algorithms on anything which is computer... "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe" is an answer here, people. | |
| Jul 24, 2013 at 16:41 | comment | added | Old Checkmark | @Sklivvz, if a question is asking for algorithm, one shouldn't really be that concerned about the language of implementation | |
| Jul 24, 2013 at 16:37 | comment | added | Florian Margaine | @Sklivvz seeing the number of different answers, yes, I am being really honest. I thought I gave enough information when I said I could run the script in a cron: as long as I can run it on linux, go with it. I kept it language agnostic because I don't really care. GHC, CLANG, node, python, ruby, mono, erl, sbcl, g++, php, bash, or whatever are all installed. Installing another one is a matter of a few minutes. | |
| Jul 24, 2013 at 16:35 | comment | added | Sklivvz | Florian, you say you need a software algorithm, but you don't specify where it should run. Excel? A programming language (of what family)? You spent more time looking for a great picture of croissants than actually giving us all the bits of info we need. Also, the answer is really trivial. Are you sure you are being completely honest here? | |
| Jul 24, 2013 at 16:30 | comment | added | Adam Rackis | This is the best Meta answer I've ever seen. | |
| Jul 24, 2013 at 16:03 | comment | added | rlemon | I missed a blue link on reddit? | |
| Jul 24, 2013 at 15:59 | comment | added | user102937 | Yeah, there's no hate here. There is, however, the mild suspicion that the site has been temporarily hijacked, both here and on the original question. Not your fault, really; it's just how the Reddit crowd behaves. That the question happened is not in itself a bad thing; edge cases help us refine our scope. | |
| Jul 24, 2013 at 15:50 | comment | added | user200500 | @FlorianMargaine I don't think the picture itself was the real problem at all. If the question was a good fit for the site, there's nothing wrong with occasionally jazzing it up with a little humor. The main problems (IMO at least) were that neither your question nor the answers it generated had much to do with programming, and that since you don't have any hard requirements, there is no way to compare answers other than subjectively. Neither of these make for a great SO question. Hate (or jealousy for that matter) don't enter into it at all. | |
| Jul 24, 2013 at 15:49 | comment | added | Shog9 | There's no hard rule on this, Florian - but in general, a good question leads with the problem to be solved not tangential detail, whether that's a block of code or a picture. It's very eye-catching, but attracting indiscriminate attention cuts both ways (as illustrated here). Also, I'm now ravenously hungry - brb, gotta find a bakery. | |
| Jul 24, 2013 at 15:44 | comment | added | Florian Margaine | @Shog9 so, making a question a little bit more attractive with a picture is not allowed? Or is it just "big-ass", meaning a smaller picture would've been fine? (i.e. the current one.) | |
| Jul 24, 2013 at 15:42 | comment | added | Mark Booth | It's funny, "Oh my" is pretty much my reaction to this meta thread too. *8') | |
| Jul 24, 2013 at 15:37 | comment | added | Shog9 | I see more jealousy than outright hate, if that makes you feel any better. The big-ass picture at the top was probably unnecessary though. | |
| Jul 24, 2013 at 15:33 | comment | added | Old Checkmark | @FlorianMargaine, "Yeah, well, that's just, like, your opinion, man". | |
| Jul 24, 2013 at 15:31 | comment | added | Florian Margaine | @Asad "Anyone looking from outside" doesn't include myself only. Actually, it's other people who pointed out to me that the thread was "full of wolves". There is a lot of valid criticism, but the atmosphere is definitely "anger". | |
| Jul 24, 2013 at 15:31 | comment | added | Joe | Yeah, I think you're misconstruing emtional-context-less statements of disagreement with anger. I didn't get the impression that there was any anger here - just (valid) disagreement as to the quality of the question. | |
| Jul 24, 2013 at 15:30 | comment | added | Old Checkmark | "it's just business, nothing personal" | |
| Jul 24, 2013 at 15:29 | comment | added | user200500 | Characterising those that disagree the question is a good fit for the site as somehow being full of hate and anger isn't exactly accurate (although I admit it is probably effective). | |
| Jul 24, 2013 at 15:27 | comment | added | chue x | @Florian - No anger from my perspective. Just trying to be objective (the question as was written shows no research). | |
| Jul 24, 2013 at 15:26 | comment | added | Shadow Wizard | Exquisitely written! And I think you made more people laugh then really angry, so goal achieved. :-) | |
| Jul 24, 2013 at 15:22 | history | answered | Florian Margaine | CC BY-SA 3.0 |