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EDIT: Someone already questioned the authenticity of the above statement. The request came directly from Joshua Heyer at SE. I don't think it'd be cool to post his email address here. Here he is: http://meta.serverfault.com/users/963/shog9

Forgive me for having to inject a little commentary at the front end. I feel it is important if you want SF to actually survive long term. There are serious problems here beyond the FAQ.

The SF FAQ, in my opinion, is seriously flawed and really needs updating. Like it or not, newcomers will refer to the FAQ for guidance and a definition of what this site is and isn't about. The current FAQ leaves the door open for topics that some (most?) in this community don't like to see here. One such example are XAMPP posts.

It has been my argument that the current FAQ does not, in any way, negate topics such as XAMPP when the context is that of professional use in a professional context.

Read the FAQ as a complete newcomer --you can be from Mars if you want-- and, as a guiding document, it DOES tell you that "Business Workstation operating systems, hardware, software" and networking topics belong here. There is no arguing that unless you choose to inject folklore into the definition. Once you resort to folklore and creative interpretation anything goes.

A key point to consider here is that I am making these comments as an outsider. What I mean by that is that the "insiders" are obviously those who have tons of karma and have been around SF a long, long time. They "know" what they want SF to be about. And that's fine. To an outsider the violent down-voting and "ganging-up" one seems to experience in SF is off-putting, to say the least. You have to have a very thick skin to be on the receiving end, endure it and actually even consider the idea of going against the current and confront what often feels like bullying. Most people won't endure this sort of thing and just walk away, disappear.

I've been "online" since before people even heard of Netscape and the Internet. I've seen some of this behavior in the old USENET lists. Some lists where very open, forgiving and accommodating of newcomers. Others had a nasty personality created by a small group of regulars who simply took control by means of ganging-up on any newcomer who's participation, for, any reason, they did not like. Sometimes it was down-right ugly.

This exact thing, it is my opinion, is happening in SF. You have a group of high-karma people with privileges that others don't have who are choosing to define their own reality and violently squash anything they don't like.

SE staff: It is really important that you evaluate this very carefully and act to curtail this behavior or SF is, without a doubt, going to end-up like many USENET groups did: A horrible place for any newcomers to approach.

Don't think that what happens in meta is indicative of what your visitors want. Not entirely at least. Most people don't participate in these discussions because they lack the thick skin required to go up against the bullies. This means that you are probably not going to hear from the vast majority of your users, only a small despotic minority.

start proposed FAQ text 

• Anything in a home setting
• Anything related to software development
• Developer-intended software stacks such as XAMPP, WAMP and similar
• Career, salary, personnel, employment, or formal education
• Licensing, legal advice, and circumvention of security or policy
• Unauthorized hacking, password cracking, or system misuse

end proposed FAQ text 

Bullying and ganging-up on new-comers by the not-so-wise "elders" must be eliminated This lowers the quality of the experience a newcomer has on first contact. One way to accomplish this is to limit the down-vote and/or comment rate of high-karma folks on very low karma members. If you have a bunch of guys with karma in the tens of thousands gang-up on you on SF you are toast. That's a bad algorithm that only reinforces and encourages that kind of tribal behavior. Almost nobody would come back to a list once treated this way, which means that the bullies, ultimately, get their way as those they don't like are expunged.

That's my take. I've been discussing these issues off-list with SE team members. Again, they asked me to post my proposed changes to the FAQ here. I participate in SO on and off and have had a great experience there. SF has been violently different due to the folkloric interpretation of the FAQ by a few individuals who seem to be running the show. New FAQ or not, SE staff must take control of this situation because the community will go nowhere except for downhill if this attitude prevails. SF might have a different look and feel, but it isn't any different than the old USENET lists in that people can make it or break it. Right now, if you enter this sandbox outside the definition applied to it by those who feel they own it you are treated to a fairly violent welcome. That destroys communities. I've seen it before, many times.

I only post this here because I care. If I didn't give a hoot I would have gone away on first contact. The SE staff is very professional and they care about this community. There's hope.

Live long and prosper.

The SF FAQ, in my opinion, is seriously flawed and really needs updating. Like it or not, newcomers will refer to the FAQ for guidance and a definition of what this site is and isn't about. The current FAQ leaves the door open for topics that some (most?) in this community don't like to see here. One such example are XAMPP posts.

Read the FAQ as a complete newcomer --you can be from Mars if you want-- and, as a guiding document, it DOES tell you that "Business Workstation operating systems, hardware, software" and networking topics belong here.

I am making these comments as an outsider. What I mean by that is that the "insiders" are obviously those who have tons of karma and have been around SF a long, long time. They "know" what they want SF to be about. And that's fine. But to an outsider the violent down-voting and "ganging-up" one seems to experience in SF is off-putting, to say the least. You have to have a very thick skin to be on the receiving end, and most people won't endure this sort of thing and just walk away, disappear.

start proposed FAQ text

• Anything in a home setting
• Anything related to software development
• Development environments, such as XAMPP, WAMP and similar
• Career, salary, personnel, employment, or formal education
• Licensing, legal advice, and circumvention of security or policy
• Unauthorized hacking, password cracking, or system misuse

end proposed FAQ text

Ganging-up on new-comers by high-rep users must be addressed This lowers the quality of the experience a newcomer has on first contact. If you have a bunch of guys with karma in the tens of thousands gang-up on you on SF you are toast. Almost nobody would come back to a list once treated this way, and this will limit the growth of the SF community.

I only post this here because I care. If I didn't give a hoot I would have gone away on first contact. The SE staff is very professional and they care about this community. There's hope.

ServerFault is about Production Server Software and Hardware and the dedicated Professionals who install, support and administer them.

ServerFault is about Production Server Software and Hardware and for the dedicated Professionals who install, support and administer them.

Forgive me for having to inject a little commentary at the front end. I feel it is important if you want SF to actually survive long term. There are serious problems here beyond the FAQ.

EDIT: Someone already questioned the authenticity of the above statement. The request came directly from Joshua Heyer at SE. I don't think it'd be cool to post his email address here. Here he is: http://meta.serverfault.com/users/963/shog9

Forgive me for having to inject a little commentary at the front end. I feel it is important if you want SF to actually survive long term. There are serious problems here beyond the FAQ.