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Related to Microsoft Azure support team redirecting off-topic support requests to Stack Overflow which has zero answers.

I found myself needing to ask some really basic and much overbroad question on how to use Azure artifacts because the documentation stinks to high heaven. It's the kind of thing that would make sense on MSDN forums, more support than Q&A style question.

I followed MS's help link and then ask the community and found myself on Stack Overflow. I know enough of how Stack Overflow works to know that the thing I would ask would not be particularly welcome here.

I now find myself very much annoyed and think this is disingenuous of Microsoft. I've got to ask essentially how to use the product even after reading the relevant documentation, and my question doesn't fit, but MS is telling me it does.

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    stackoverflow.com/tags/azure-devops/topusers
    – Hans Passant
    Commented Jan 22, 2021 at 23:15
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    Maybe the Microsoft Azure support team are not aware that Server Fault is a question and answer site for managing information technology systems in a business environment.
    – Andrew Morton
    Commented Jan 23, 2021 at 18:03
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    Microsoft support used to have three levels: Level 1 - we've never heard of that problem; Level 2: why would you ever want to do that?; Level 3 - OK, here's how you do it. Maybe there's now a new level => ask a question on Stack Overflow. Put it where you like in the hierarchy...
    – Bob Jarvis - Слава Україні
    Commented Jan 23, 2021 at 19:04
  • Regarding my earlier comment, Microsoft do have a link to Server Fault, but that was after creating a support ticket, and I don't know if I'll be able to find the page again.
    – Andrew Morton
    Commented Feb 3, 2021 at 20:16

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
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I had a similar concern about TFS questions a while back:

All TFS questions funneled to Stack Overflow?

The response I got from Jon Ericson essentially amounted to such links being OK as long as the following things check out:

  1. Does the announcement provide other options for people to use when Stack Overflow isn't the right place to ask? (In this case there is a link to Azure support towards the bottom of the page.)
  2. Is there a "representative from the project [...] monitoring (and ideally, participating in) the tag"? (I see some users with "MSFT" in their user name answering some questions on that tag.)
  3. SO is not getting consumer traffic mistakenly directed here (ie an Uber Customer looking for their driver). (Not sure on this one.)
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    MS insists you always ask the community before you contact their support and demand the links to forum posts to prove it. Not that they specifically reference stackoverflow in that demand.
    – Joshua
    Commented Jan 23, 2021 at 0:11
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    @Joshua - That has not been my experience when using their support. Either way, between StackOverflow, ServerFault and SuperUser, most support needs from Microsoft have a place post a question. (If it does not have to be StackOverflow.)
    – Vaccano
    Commented Jan 23, 2021 at 0:35
  • @Joshua FWIW, that depends on the support team. O365 Business Support just requires you do a basic search before submitting a ticket. Premier Support doesn't need you to do anything first (though their web form asks a ton of questions).
    – wjandrea
    Commented Jan 23, 2021 at 2:11
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    I've contacted general Azure support several times and never been asked if I went to SO or any other community
    – Hong Ooi
    Commented Jan 23, 2021 at 6:04
  • TFS? What does it mean?
    – Clockwork
    Commented Jan 25, 2021 at 7:33
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    @Clockwork TFS = Team Foundation Server, a Microsoft source control and SDLM solution (now renamed to Azure DevOps Server).
    – Mark Rotteveel
    Commented Jan 25, 2021 at 8:25
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It makes some sense since that developer community site is awful and they can't be bothered to add a useful search to it.

The part that doesn't make sense is how they are shucking their professional responsibility to produce working software with documentation and be accountable for it. They won't be any more responsive to issues here than they are anywhere else.

Over time this means is that SO will just be a dumping ground for all the complaints people have regarding Azure DevOps that MSFT will not fix. This site will become diluted while they position Microsoft Q and A (an SO clone) to try to be the dominant site in the Q&A space.

After the last 5 years I don't trust them despite having been a lifelong fan before that. If I were you, I would be sending a cease and desist immediately if that's possible.

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    I would argue that a dumping ground for distinct complaints would be an improvement over the current state of things in some topics where people ask the same questions (that have the same answers, or no possible ones due to lack of information) over and over.
    – D. SM
    Commented Jan 22, 2021 at 22:35
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    You know, SO could just check for that specific referring URL and return an error page, or more deviously a redirect to the Azure DevOps bug page. It's cheaper than a cease and desist letter.
    – Joshua
    Commented Jan 22, 2021 at 22:44
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    I don't think you need to have any sort of concern about MS's Q&A attempts supplementing SO. Their repeated attempts at QA (forums, UserVoice, the new one) always end up being terrible self-defeating pieces of garbage.
    – Ian Kemp
    Commented Jan 22, 2021 at 22:59
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    But Microsoft will most likely acquire Stack Overflow. Better be prepared.
    – Peter Mortensen
    Commented Jan 23, 2021 at 3:31
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    @PeterMortensen Now that's a doomsday scenario.
    – Martin Zeitler
    Commented Jan 23, 2021 at 6:48
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https://stackoverflow.com/ (to a logged out user) says:

Stack Overflow is an open community for anyone that codes. We help you get answers to your toughest coding questions, share knowledge with your coworkers in private, and find your next dream job.

As such, "How do I do X in a proprietary service that doesn't provide adequate documentation" seems like a valid question for this site, even if it may be only answerable by employees of the company that owns and develops said proprietary service.

Here, there's even an official page for this sort of thing.

(Written as someone who sometimes answers questions about proprietary services... though for a company that provides its own support forum, which one may argue to be in some ways better and others worse than using SO as Azure appears to have chosen.)

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    "stackoverflow.com (to a logged out user) says..." did you notice that the link in question does not navigate to the homepage, and even if it did, nobody reads it
    – Nick is tired
    Commented Jan 22, 2021 at 21:30
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    I used the homepage as an easy location to find something like SO's scope or mission statement. The fact that logged in users don't see it doesn't change the fact that that is SO's scope/mission statement.
    – D. SM
    Commented Jan 22, 2021 at 22:31
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    The problem is not that no questions about Azure are on-topic here. Certainly a question asking how to accomplish a specific, well-defined task in a proprietary service would be accepted here, regardless of whether or not that service provided adequate documentation. (A lack of adequate documentation would make such a question even more useful, of course.) The problem is that Microsoft seems to be recommending Stack Overflow to people without any sort of guidance. The guidance on the SO home page is insufficient, as it doesn't point people to our help center, specifically what is on-topic.
    – Cody Gray - on strike Mod
    Commented Jan 22, 2021 at 22:54
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    The question specifically mentioned a "really basic and much overbroad question on how to use Azure artifacts", one that would not be a suitable for our Q&A format. A question like that would not be well-received here, and pointing someone with a question like that to Stack Overflow is a massive disservice, both to them and to us.
    – Cody Gray - on strike Mod
    Commented Jan 22, 2021 at 22:55

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