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Rev

8

I hope the evaluation works well. There is a constant stream of stuff that could be closed with this. If you force the first closer to suggest a reference URL (like with dupes), everyone including the OP will be happy, but another pointless duplicate will have been prevented from attracting pointless use this function: answers.
– Pekka
Commented Apr 25, 2011 at 19:37
21

@pekka Joel is very concerned it will be abused. I have concerns as well, since many programmers are of the "cannot abide a single atom of duplication in the omniverse" OCD variety
– Jeff Atwood
Commented Apr 25, 2011 at 20:48
3

@Jeff yeah, I see the point, and some danger of it getting used as a back door "RTFM" on valid questions. But the potential benefit would be huge... I'd be happy to see this do a test run on SO for a few weeks, with mods and 10ks keeping a close eye on what gets closed.
– Pekka
Commented Apr 25, 2011 at 20:53
6

I really hope this comes to SO soon. I feel my niche is getting cluttered.
– gnostradamus
Commented May 2, 2011 at 3:21
2

@Jeff, please let us have it on Skeptics...
– Sklivvz
Commented May 3, 2011 at 20:18
18

@yms, almost every one of the PHP questions linked above is answerable simply by looking up the function in question in the PHP manual. Expecting someone to at least have fired up Google or referenced the manual isn't something I'd consider "elitist discrimination." They all have dupes, but the class of question is so horrible and prolific that it's impossible to find an exact match. For example, there are nearly 2000 questions about strtotime in the PHP tag. Being able to close questions that can be answered through simple manual reading is going to be a win for overall question quality.
– Charles
Commented May 17, 2011 at 18:34
4

@Sklivvz: How will that even work on Skeptics? The community there has an incredibly strong anti-logic/pro-reference bias. I'd be interested to see how "close questions that have a standard reference source" meets up with "all answers must essentially be links to standard reference sources".
– user118150
Commented May 25, 2011 at 18:30
3

@yms I see nothing elitist in this. I don't see why the site should cater to people who can't even be bothered to read up on the most basic basics of their programming language, or stuff that is trivial to Google using the exact text they put into the question title. Plus, the OP does get an answer that will help them - the link to the manual. But the question will be closed (and can eventually be deleted) instead of cluttering the question base
– Pekka
Commented May 29, 2011 at 18:54
3

I still disagree that "you can google it" is a legitimate reason for using this close ta. And I'd argue that there is enough confusion over this to argue against implementing it. Frankly, the way Pekka and Sklivvz want to use it, why don't you just save time and call it the 'lmgtfy' close reason.
– user118150
Commented May 31, 2011 at 15:13
5

@user the close reason is a polite version of both "RTFM" and "Go Google". What's wrong with that, especially since the user is even given the correct manual link?
– Pekka
Commented May 31, 2011 at 19:45
6

@Adam the subjectivity of what is a general reference question is going to be the greatest danger, I agree. But a user who is not able to find the string capitalization function in the PHP manual is maybe not cut out for programming in the first place. Accommodating these users with anything more than a manual link or a tutorial is a noble but tiresome enterprise. Plus, in my experience, users who have a specific problem understanding a specific part of the manual and ask accordingly (instead of a brain-dead "i want to do xyz") are treated very well on SO, no matter how basic the issue.
– Pekka
Commented May 31, 2011 at 19:59
11

How's the evaluation period going? Any chances of it being available for any other sites now?
– Jeff Mercado
Commented Aug 3, 2011 at 21:30
2

@TheGhostofChristmasPast Link rot and general SEO issues are a huge problem with this, see for example the fall of Dive into HTML5/ect. Just because an answer is easy to find today doesn't mean that site will be easy to find in a month or year. Stack Exchange we can at least know will be around as long as...Stack Exchange exists, so actually having the answers here is the best way to benefit the community. Even worse, what if someone starts deciding Experts Exchange is a general reference?
– Zelda
Commented Jan 4, 2012 at 15:13
2

@Jeff ping in case you're interested General Reference questions create low-quality dead ends for Googlers
– Pekka
Commented Dec 27, 2012 at 22:22
4

The flow chart is great and looks perfect to me. It's such a shame that this was all refused. I admit I haven't listened to the podcast, but I don't see any particular downsides convincingly presented on this Q&A. Almost everyone seems to want this.
– Lightness Races in Orbit
Commented Jan 26, 2013 at 19:21

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