Timeline for What will happen to Stack Overflow now that it has been sold to Prosus for $1.8 Billion?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
66 events
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| Nov 7, 2023 at 0:02 | history | edited | cottontail | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Mar 30, 2022 at 0:02 | comment | added | bobsbeenjamin | See here: meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/415293 | |
| Jan 25, 2022 at 16:39 | comment | added | peterh | @PeterMortensen He was not a mod, only a power user (note, being power user in physics is a "little" bit more hard than in the IT world). | |
| Jan 24, 2022 at 22:01 | comment | added | peterh | @SteveSummit I think we can not say that the company had done anything unlawful or unfair. It is their gun and their foot. (Check my deleted post below.) We can say that we think, the company is doing unimaginably bad for itself, but it is its own right to do. Of course our pain is that we worked a lot, partially for the tuning of our Job SO profile and now it all goes into the soup. | |
| Jan 24, 2022 at 21:57 | comment | added | peterh |
@SteveSummit Surprise coincidence: running a SELECT SUM(Reputation) FROM Users query on the SEDE gives a result to very close to this 1.8billion. On this reason, we can estimate that 1 rep ≈ 1$. However, fact is that we all knew it even without numbers, and we were here on our own. Furthermore, we have also learnt a lot here.
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| Jun 17, 2021 at 18:11 | answer | added | Travis J | timeline score: 15 | |
| Jun 16, 2021 at 13:52 | comment | added | zcoop98 | @PeterMortensen I think you're conflating an answer by a moderator with the OP of that thread stepping away. Another mod makes reference to them simply being a "high-rep, high-activity user". | |
| Jun 16, 2021 at 13:17 | comment | added | Peter Mortensen | As a consequence, a moderator on Physics has stepped down: Stack Exchange, Prosus, Naspers, apartheid, and white supremacy | |
| Jun 7, 2021 at 7:28 | comment | added | Martin James | Well, at least the Dutch brew good ale:) | |
| Jun 5, 2021 at 17:33 | comment | added | kelvin | @Trilarion "A non-profit organization of the public Q&A knowledge library part might deliver more value in the long run" Agreed. Would be nice if there was a full fork of SO with all the content, rather than starting over from scratch (e.g.: Codidact). It could have its own original questions and answers, plus a script that would automatically merge new ones (and their changes) from SO periodically. | |
| Jun 5, 2021 at 14:34 | comment | added | NoDataDumpNoContribution | @Brad I also thought about that. A non-profit organization of the public Q&A knowledge library part might deliver more value in the long run. The good thing is the content license. In principle you could work in parallel, i.e. cross post content on two different platforms for an intermediate time. It's "just" the software and the servers that need to be replaced really. That might limit a potential splintering of the community. | |
| Jun 5, 2021 at 7:20 | comment | added | Brad | Perhaps this is the cue we've needed to splinter off and have a self-funded self-governed Stack Overflow. The content essentially already belongs to everyone by way of Creative Commons. The company doesn't seem to be adding value for the community that couldn't be done via a non-profit entity and board to manage it. The community here is too important to be left up to the whims of folks with different goals than that of the community itself. Of course, splintering has serious implications for the health of the community as well. Hmmmm.... | |
| Jun 4, 2021 at 19:51 | comment | added | TylerH | @MichaelKay Sorry, you'll still have to bear the Strunk & White badge. | |
| Jun 4, 2021 at 19:02 | comment | added | QHarr |
I take this not much this year to mean site advertising (amount and type) will remain the same?
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| Jun 4, 2021 at 15:45 | comment | added | brasofilo | @MichaelKay, fingers crossed! | |
| Jun 4, 2021 at 10:19 | comment | added | Michael Kay | I suspect one impact is that SO will become a little less US-centric. The team running SO have no idea how much their attitudes betray a US mindset. The user base is totally international, the company itself isn't. | |
| Jun 4, 2021 at 7:02 | comment | added | NoDataDumpNoContribution | @IanKemp Well that's humans for you. Just look at the score. Many people seem to think that this is a major event in the history of StackOverflow. They want to discuss it, whether they can get accurate answers or not. I find it very interesting. But I also agree that it's a bit early to tell. Still I think that every user of SO should know of it, therefore the request to feature it. | |
| Jun 3, 2021 at 22:10 | comment | added | Ian Kemp | @Trilarion Why should this question be featured? It's an ultimately stupid and pointless one because nobody except Prosus can answer that and obviously they aren't going to. So actually, this question should be deleted. | |
| Jun 3, 2021 at 18:54 | comment | added | Nelson Teixeira | @10Rep does this really happened ? my comment was deleted ? If yes that's a very bad sign. | |
| Jun 3, 2021 at 13:38 | comment | added | NoDataDumpNoContribution | This question really should be featured. | |
| Jun 3, 2021 at 11:44 | comment | added | NoDataDumpNoContribution | @Catija SO is for learning but with a very important condition, you already must know a bit. It's definitely not for learning to program from the scratch. Or at the very least, it's very inefficient for that and doesn't scale well. If only beginners would know that there are better ways to learn. On the other hand, once you know a bit, it's really good, one of the best sources of knowledge, practically similar to thousands of programming books in a very special format. Reading on SO is more important than asking for learning. Ask less, read more should be the motto. | |
| Jun 3, 2021 at 11:13 | comment | added | Lundin | @Stargateur SO is already receiving massive traffic of the kind "I'm too lazy to study beginner learning material, just tell me the answer so I don't have to spend 5 minutes checking a book or using Google". We are talking of thousands of questions like that every day. The company loves massive traffic so they will encourage the behavior rather than seeking to prevent it. Also the soulless "rep hunters" love answering the same question over and over, so they get answered. It's been a very long time since this was a site for professional & enthusiast programmers. | |
| Jun 3, 2021 at 10:00 | comment | added | NoDataDumpNoContribution | @PM2Ring They have surely thoroughly researched, but still they may have ended up with a conclusion that will prove somewhat wrong in the future. Even thorough research cannot predict the future completely. Maybe they don't have the first hand experience that we have or maybe they see something I cannot yet imagine. We'll see. | |
| Jun 3, 2021 at 9:58 | comment | added | Gimby | @Trilarion Stack Overflow is at the heart of everything related to development and as we can see from the amount of unwanted questions that roll in in some way or another every novice developer learns about Stack Overflow's existence and wants to post questions there rather than somewhere more novice-friendly... that kind of name recognition is worth a lot more than the site software and content itself I would reckon. | |
| Jun 3, 2021 at 9:39 | comment | added | PM 2Ring | @Trilarion I doubt they'd spend $1.8G on a company that they haven't thoroughly researched. | |
| Jun 3, 2021 at 9:27 | comment | added | NoDataDumpNoContribution | The good news is that the new parent company is big. So there is financial stability involved. The bad news is that they may have bought something different from what SO really is, judging by the announcement. Also $1.8 billion really sounds like a lot. Is it really worth that much? If so, we should simply all move away, found our own StackOverflow and sell it for the same price. | |
| Jun 3, 2021 at 9:24 | comment | added | NoDataDumpNoContribution | @PM2Ring "Will there be poffertjes? Salmiak? A "coffee" shop? ;)" Prosus is just a daughter of Naspers, which is a South African company. So I guess it will rather be curry and chakalaka and wine (I'm looking forward to the wine though). | |
| Jun 3, 2021 at 9:20 | comment | added | NoDataDumpNoContribution | @SteveSummit "$1.8 billion? So do those of us who contribute get any of that?" It's the other way around unfortunately. By paying $1.8 billion they got us, the content creators. We are now working for them (and for free as always). | |
| Jun 3, 2021 at 6:14 | comment | added | Peter Mortensen | The controlling company has a "glorious" past: "...Naspers refused to comply, which led to 127 Naspers employees each making an individual submission to the TRC, apologising for their role in the apartheid years. They said Naspers newspapers had formed an integral part of the power structure which implemented and maintained apartheid through, for instance, supporting the NP in elections and referendums. In 2015, Media24 CEO Esmare Weideman apologised for Naspers's role in supporting apartheid.". Prosus | |
| Jun 3, 2021 at 5:12 | comment | added | 10 Rep | @NelsonTeixeira the front end is open source: github.com/StackExchange | |
| Jun 3, 2021 at 2:38 | history | edited | Samuel Liew | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Jun 2, 2021 at 22:37 | comment | added | zcoop98 | @SteveSummit I was shocked to discover that that number is only a little (~8%) greater than the total reputation held across Stack Overflow. If it's doled out that way, then you've got a nice gift coming your way! | |
| Jun 2, 2021 at 22:31 | comment | added | 10 Rep | @SteveSummit We're volunteers, aren't we? | |
| Jun 2, 2021 at 22:29 | comment | added | 10 Rep | @Stargateur I think people confuse learning with getting. Most people come to Stack Overflow to have people write code for them. When they don't get any code, they say Stack Overflow is not for learning. But I disagree - if you ask a good question that's productive, then you get an answer. That's the definition of learning. So I solely believe that Stack Overflow is for learning. I learnt a lot of programming from here. And I'm stupid. | |
| Jun 2, 2021 at 22:22 | comment | added | Steve Summit | $1.8 billion? So do those of us who contribute get any of that? | |
| Jun 2, 2021 at 19:37 | comment | added | zcoop98 | @Stargateur I think your concern is a fair one; SO isn't designed to teach people how to code. For people who mistake SO for that, it's a lose-lose for both the individual and the community. However, I still don't think it's wrong to say that SO is an "online teach learning" platform, and I don't think that language is cause for alarm. Every single person on SO (and other network sites) is definitely learning– The core goal of every Stack is to "build a repository of knowledge." That goal is inseparable from using that knowledge for "learning", it's just less synchronous than normal teaching | |
| Jun 2, 2021 at 19:24 | comment | added | Stargateur | @Catija first, I believe there is a different between "learning" and "learn" you changed the word thus change a lot the thing I was talking about, secondly, sure we can learn from SO, but this trigger some red flag, specially, a Q&A form is not suitable for get starting in something, it's suitable to get answer to specific question and a lot of misinformation lead to a lot of people believing SO is here to help you learn basic of language/programming. This lead to a lot of negative experience. Also, here I speak of stackoverflow itself, not stackexchange other site that I never used. | |
| Jun 2, 2021 at 18:58 | comment | added | Catija | @Stargateur Why is it not a place to learn? In microscopic ways? It's not a teaching platform, no - and I don't think that's something anyone would say... but to imply that people aren't learning on SO or the rest of the network seems a bit odd. When I ask questions, I learn a ton. When I search and find an answer already on site, I learn. This may be just in time learning instead of lesson plans but it's still learning. | |
| Jun 2, 2021 at 18:53 | comment | added | EJoshuaS - Stand with Ukraine | @rene Did you know that windmills like music? They tend to be big metal fans. | |
| Jun 2, 2021 at 18:42 | answer | added | Cesar MStaffMod | timeline score: 37 | |
| Jun 2, 2021 at 17:39 | comment | added | idmean | @yivi Scroll down to the very bottom of this or any SE network page: "© 2021 Stack Exchange Inc". The company is called Stack Exchange Inc. | |
| Jun 2, 2021 at 17:23 | answer | added | MachavityMod | timeline score: 81 | |
| Jun 2, 2021 at 17:03 | comment | added | Ollie | See meta.stackexchange.com/a/365052/798831 for some more info. | |
| Jun 2, 2021 at 16:50 | answer | added | Makoto | timeline score: 17 | |
| Jun 2, 2021 at 16:49 | history | became hot meta post | |||
| Jun 2, 2021 at 16:45 | history | edited | some | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Jun 2, 2021 at 16:42 | comment | added | Makoto | In the mean time, some anxiety-laced regret and concern is already starting to course through my psyche, as if I had a chance to read the writing on the wall and chose to ignore it... | |
| Jun 2, 2021 at 16:41 | comment | added | cigien | Just to have a link to it, this is posted on MSE as well meta.stackexchange.com/questions/365050 | |
| Jun 2, 2021 at 16:41 | history | edited | 41686d6564 |
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| Jun 2, 2021 at 16:41 | comment | added | Makoto | Oh, this one's gonna need some official explanations. There's a lot that we could guess about or gesture vividly about, but the core tenet (and a lot of the motivation behind some decisions) has largely been about the investors, the profitability of the platform, and what the actual direction held. With there now being an owner, the existing knowledge or assumptions about what Stack Overflow Inc. is or was is rendered completely invalid. Only executives or the board could answer this. | |
| Jun 2, 2021 at 16:36 | comment | added | yivi | @Larnu stackoverflow.blog/2015/09/15/… | |
| Jun 2, 2021 at 16:36 | comment | added | Stargateur | "Prosus NV said it struck a $1.8 billion deal to acquire Stack Overflow, an online community for software developers, in a bet on growing demand for online tech learning." I'm already afraid, do they know what they buy ? | |
| Jun 2, 2021 at 16:36 | comment | added | Jon Clements | @rene I expect the confetti will be replaced with Windmills and Tulips - I hope not - the confetti looks confusing enough... | |
| Jun 2, 2021 at 16:36 | comment | added | janw | Blog post from the CEO: Prosus’s Acquisition of Stack Overflow: Our Exciting Next Chapter | |
| Jun 2, 2021 at 16:31 | comment | added | yivi | The company that owns the SE Network has been called Stack Overflow for some time now, I think. Interpreting this as buying just one site of the network would be really strange, I think. | |
| Jun 2, 2021 at 16:27 | comment | added | yivi | @rene Pretty sure they bought it because of the cooking site. The geek nest is just a weird bonus. | |
| Jun 2, 2021 at 16:25 | comment | added | rene | @10Rep at Prosus they are surprised they bought a Cooking site as well .... | |
| Jun 2, 2021 at 16:20 | comment | added | rene | @JoeFriend Long time no see. Glad to see you still keep an eye on us. Hope you're doing well. | |
| Jun 2, 2021 at 16:19 | comment | added | rene | Given Prosus is Dutch, I expect the confetti will be replaced with Windmills and Tulips | |
| Jun 2, 2021 at 16:18 | history | edited | Red | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Jun 2, 2021 at 16:18 | comment | added | Joe Friend | Congrats to everyone at Stack. This is a huge accomplishment. | |
| Jun 2, 2021 at 16:18 | history | edited | 10 Rep | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Jun 2, 2021 at 16:18 | comment | added | Bhargav Rao | So the suspicions were true! | |
| Jun 2, 2021 at 16:17 | history | edited | cigien | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Jun 2, 2021 at 16:15 | history | edited | Bhargav Rao | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Jun 2, 2021 at 16:15 | history | asked | some | CC BY-SA 4.0 |