3

Recently I posted What are best practices for creating a system account? (*NIX). When I checked, it was downvoted -2. It seems ok to me, so can someone tell me what's wrong with it so I can ask better questions in the future?

7
  • 3
    I don't know why. Seems OK to me? It also has 4 close votes which I don't understand. Hopefully the people who have a problem with it will come here and tell us why. Jun 22, 2013 at 10:54
  • 3
    Best practice questions tend not to do well here because whilst in theory there should be only one Best Practice, in reality everyone has their own. 3 of the 4 close votes are Not Constructive which kind of underlines this.
    – user9517
    Jun 22, 2013 at 12:26
  • If so, why is there a best-practices tag? (Thanks, though, it does make sense.)
    – strugee
    Jun 23, 2013 at 3:44
  • 6
    If so, why is there a best-practices tag? Because, sadly, anyone can create a tag.
    – Rob Moir
    Jun 23, 2013 at 15:01
  • 1
    I didn't downvote, but one of the close votes was mine, for the exact reason Iain stated.
    – Sven
    Jun 24, 2013 at 10:53
  • 1
    Like @SvW, I also voted to close for the reasons stated by Iain. I also applied a downvote, but only once the question was re-opened as I stand by my close vote and don't think it should have been reopened.
    – Bryan
    Jun 25, 2013 at 11:43
  • 2
    Personally, I don't mind reading all the answers suggesting any "best practices" and making my choice. I guess the problem is that SE does not scale up well, so it goes to a point where moderators just can't handle reading it and are getting more and more stressed (read "annoyed"). I suppose increasing the number of SE moderators would have helped to relax the current situation a little bit. ( PS. blog.stackoverflow.com/2010/11/… -- I more like this initial idea that we should not actually try to erase too much. ) Jun 27, 2013 at 9:46

1 Answer 1

7

Questions on Best Practice don't do well here because, whilst there should be only one 'Best Practice', in reality everyone has their own which tends to make them somewhat Not Constructive.

6
  • 4
    In the old days, the StackExchange voting system helped to resolve these situations by letting the community decide which answers were best. Furthermore, @FalconMomot was able to the question succinctly and uncontroversially. Speaking impartially as someone who almost never asks questions here, I am completely sick of seeing valid, on-topic questions get closed for reasons of personal preference.
    – Skyhawk
    Jul 2, 2013 at 9:40
  • @MilesErickson: The accepted answer begins There isn't really a specific best practice, shrugs
    – user9517
    Jul 2, 2013 at 13:30
  • ...and then it describes exactly what some key best practices are. Go figure, right?
    – Skyhawk
    Jul 2, 2013 at 13:54
  • 2
    There's a Windows version of that question waiting to be written and answered, too. How many Windows admins set service accounts to deny interactive login and/or set the shell to logoff.exe? Truth is, most Windows administrators run services as the built-in domain administrator. This site used to be described generically as a "best practice community," and now look how far we've fallen. We used to care about improving and informing the next generation of professionals. Check out @KyleBrandt's top-rated answers. Most of those underlying questions would get shot down in a heartbeat today.
    – Skyhawk
    Jul 2, 2013 at 14:13
  • @MilesErickson: vote/whinge as you see fit the same as I do.
    – user9517
    Jul 2, 2013 at 14:15
  • 1
    Best Practice type questions can do well here, but they need to be Good Questions. (This one isn't particularly awful - with a little editing it could even be good/canonical. The bad ones are super-broad "What are the best practices for running a hosting provider?" or ones where the only answer is "Pick what works best for your situation")
    – voretaq7
    Jul 2, 2013 at 15:07

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .