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NullUserException อ_อ
NullUserException อ_อ
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The problem I see with this suggestion is that the trivial questions are valuable - based on how they are asked.

I did a test to give an example. I Googled "How to concatenate a string in C#" and got the documentation as the first result. So in this case, you'reyour statement is correct.

However,

It seems like that's based on the assumption that everyone who needs to know how to concatenate a string in C# knows what concatenation is and understands what the string data type is. A look at some of the questions on SO will immediately prove this presumption is false. There are users of all levels that use SO and can benefit from it. To demonstrate this I Googled "How to add two variables of text into one in C#" and got this unrelated blog post as the first result. Google's first page has some related results, but the results are not as close to being what the user is looking for as the results that show up on SO's search page.

The fact is that if one person asks a question in a particular way, someone else probably will eventually as well, even if it isn't the correct way to ask it. If SO were to follow the recommendation to close all "general reference" questions, then it would be eliminating a particularly valuable aspect of having these questions - which is the implicitly cross-referenced terminology.

I think that the "duplicate question" close reason is sufficient in this situation, because it points questions asked "the wrong way" to a single question, thus teaching the correct terminology and answering the question.

The problem I see with this suggestion is that the trivial questions are valuable - based on how they are asked.

I did a test to give an example. I Googled "How to concatenate a string in C#" and got the documentation as the first result. So in this case, you're statement is correct.

However,

It seems like that's based on the assumption that everyone who needs to know how to concatenate a string in C# knows what concatenation is and understands what the string data type is. A look at some of the questions on SO will immediately prove this presumption is false. There are users of all levels that use SO and can benefit from it. To demonstrate this I Googled "How to add two variables of text into one in C#" and got this unrelated blog post as the first result. Google's first page has some related results, but the results are not as close to being what the user is looking for as the results that show up on SO's search page.

The fact is that if one person asks a question in a particular way, someone else probably will eventually as well, even if it isn't the correct way to ask it. If SO were to follow the recommendation to close all "general reference" questions, then it would be eliminating a particularly valuable aspect of having these questions - which is the implicitly cross-referenced terminology.

I think that the "duplicate question" close reason is sufficient in this situation, because it points questions asked "the wrong way" to a single question, thus teaching the correct terminology and answering the question.

The problem I see with this suggestion is that the trivial questions are valuable - based on how they are asked.

I did a test to give an example. I Googled "How to concatenate a string in C#" and got the documentation as the first result. So in this case, your statement is correct.

However,

It seems like that's based on the assumption that everyone who needs to know how to concatenate a string in C# knows what concatenation is and understands what the string data type is. A look at some of the questions on SO will immediately prove this presumption is false. There are users of all levels that use SO and can benefit from it. To demonstrate this I Googled "How to add two variables of text into one in C#" and got this unrelated blog post as the first result. Google's first page has some related results, but the results are not as close to being what the user is looking for as the results that show up on SO's search page.

The fact is that if one person asks a question in a particular way, someone else probably will eventually as well, even if it isn't the correct way to ask it. If SO were to follow the recommendation to close all "general reference" questions, then it would be eliminating a particularly valuable aspect of having these questions - which is the implicitly cross-referenced terminology.

I think that the "duplicate question" close reason is sufficient in this situation, because it points questions asked "the wrong way" to a single question, thus teaching the correct terminology and answering the question.

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smartcaveman
smartcaveman
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The problem I see with this suggestion is that the trivial questions are valuable - based on how they are asked.

I did a test to give an example. I Googled "How to concatenate a string in C#" and got the documentation as the first result. So in this case, you're statement is correct.

However,

It seems like that's based on the assumption that everyone who needs to know how to concatenate a string in C# knows what concatenation is and understands what the string data type is. A look at some of the questions on SO will immediately prove this presumption is false. There are users of all levels that use SO and can benefit from it. To demonstrate this I Googled "How to add two variables of text into one in C#" and got this unrelated blog post as the first result. Google's first page has some related results, but the results are not as close to being what the user is looking for as the results that show up on SO's search page.

The fact is that if one person asks a question in a particular way, someone else probably will eventually as well, even if it isn't the correct way to ask it. If SO were to follow the recommendation to close all "general reference" questions, then it would be eliminating a particularly valuable aspect of having these questions - which is the implicitly cross-referenced terminology.

I think that the "duplicate question" close reason is sufficient in this situation, because it points questions asked "the wrong way" to a single question, thus teaching the correct terminology and answering the question.