up vote 13 down vote favorite

Questions such as removing viruses or malware, help installing/uninstalling software, configuring Outlook, etc?

link
Thank you for your confidence in our abilities, but... meta.serverfault.com/questions/2048/… At this time, the grand experiment that is serverfault.com would like very much not to be PCissues.com – Kara Marfia May 22 '09 at 16:58
feedback

migrated from meta.stackoverflow.com Jul 22 '10 at 18:07

This question came from our site for the Stack Exchange engine powering these sites.

8 Answers

up vote 16 down vote

From the FAQ:

Server Fault is for system administrators and IT professionals, people who manage or maintain computers in a professional capacity. If you are in charge of ...

  • servers
  • networks
  • many desktop PCs (other than your own)

... then you're in the right place to ask your question! Well, as long as the question is about your servers, your networks, or your desktops, anyway.

Notice the in a professional capacity and other than your own.

Judging from the above quote, it seems perfectly okay to ask these kind of questions, as long as it is primarily focused on the professional field and does not end up in "help me, my computer broke down" kind of questions.

If these questions are focused on a home use, they should be directed to Super User, as long as they respect its scope:

Super User is for computer enthusiasts and power users. If you have a question about …

  • computer hardware
  • computer software

and it is not about …

  • videogames or consoles
  • websites or web services like Facebook, Twitter, and WordPress
  • electronic devices, media players, cell phones or smart phones, except insofar as they interface with your computer
  • a shopping or buying recommendation

… then you're in the right place to ask your question!

link
And not a personal desktop. – Jauder Ho Apr 30 '09 at 8:38
11  
But my personal desktop is also my work desktop, can I ask anything I want? – Peter Coulton Apr 30 '09 at 8:41
Next question: If I help friends (for free) with their computers and run into something I can't figure out, does that count as professional? – mmyers Apr 30 '09 at 23:32
Not only is my personal desktop my work desktop, but so are my servers and everything else on my home/office network - 12 PCs at the last count – Anonymous Jul 23 '09 at 15:50
2  
If it's a personal computer it doesn't matter if it's also your work computer; it's still a home computer and most of those questions will belong on SU. If you aren't sure, post on SU and they'll recognize if it's more appropriate for SF. – Chris S♦ Aug 2 '10 at 20:40
feedback
up vote 6 down vote

I think it's inevitable, most people will never read the FAQ

link
3  
lots of things are inevitable... doesn't mean they're good... – Mikeage Apr 30 '09 at 8:47
It's up to the people with moderation privileges, since anybody who'd actually read the FAQ first will know better. – David Thornley Dec 22 '09 at 15:18
feedback
up vote 6 down vote

TBH, I'm more worried about an influx of HijackThis logs than about the ocasional home user...

link
Great, point -- dumps of that sort of information will raise the s/n ratio significantly, and attract users searching for foo.dll who lack clue. – duffbeer703 May 10 '09 at 2:44
feedback
up vote 4 down vote

If there related to a multi pc environment - such as having a virus affect your whole network or setting up outlook for multiple pc's then that should be ok. 1 Pc with a virus or email error is not really what SF's about, but they will come, I guess the only way to deal with that is good moderation.

I think this will be more of a problem than with SO, as everyone has a pc, when they experience a problem there going to google it and SF will be here with an answer thats close, but doesn't really apply because its for a server, so they'll ask the question instead.

link
feedback
up vote 3 down vote

I think the whole multiple server thing could become silly. If this site is too strict about it, you'll have to append "on multiple servers" to every question to keep from getting shut down. Instead of saying "what's the registry key to ..." you'll have to say "I need to write a script to ... on 500 servers. What's the registry key to ..."

link
It doesn't really say "multiple servers" - multiple desktops, sure. But you can usually tell the difference between "I want to change this setting" and "I have x hundred computers that I want to change this setting on" - for instance, the x hundred computers person is likely to be after a scriptable way. – Richard Gadsden Apr 30 '09 at 11:21
feedback
up vote 3 down vote

No. Ask on SuperUser.

link
+!, At the worst they'll migrate it to SF if it should be there. – Chris S♦ Aug 3 '10 at 1:07
feedback
up vote 2 down vote

I think this is the biggest risk for serverfault.

Stackoverflow only has to contend with homework and 'give me teh codes pleez' questions. But the world is full of more or less clueless people with PCs who do know how to use Google...

This is where the low barrier to entry (no login required) could become a problem, long term. I guess rep may be the saving factor, as clueless people aren't likely to get much. I expect that once serverfault gets to a critical mass of questions/users, the downvoting and closing will become a lot harsher, as the community becomes more engaged and will want to protect the value of the site.

So in short I would answer - ask away for the time being. If your question is for your home PC but is also of relevance/interest to a sysadmin, I don't think there's a problem.

link
feedback
up vote 1 down vote

I agree it's the biggest risk.

If someone can ask the question in such a way as to make themselves known to be a sysadmin, then who the end-user is should not matter.

But if it's naive end-user questions (who happen to be the sysadmin for their home systems), serverfault will fail.

I don't think the requirements should so much be "in a professional capacity" and "other than your own" so mcuh as it should be that it is -indistinguishable- from a question asked in a professional capacity.

link
feedback

You must log in to answer this question.