I have mixed feelings on this. There are some beginner level questions being asked by professionals who are working in an area outside their comfort zone. I don't downvote such questions unless they are just plain poorly written. I believe this question to be an example, although whether that is really a system administration issue or not is a whole other matter.

Where I do readily downvote and/or vote to either move or close, is where it is clear that the poster is NOT an IT professional. Certainly not as per the FAQ description. Moreover, I believe that any upvotes given to questions that are later moved or closed should be removed and the rep adjusted accordingly.

A case in point is this question. What sort of IT professional, in any area whatsoever, would think that question is so good as to warrant an upvote? Yet when I first saw it there were already four upvotes. I realise the question originated on SO but even a hobby level programmer should know better than to upvote such a question.

In my opinion the value of Server Fault as a tool for professionals is seriously restricted by having to sift through the dross of inappropriate questions, which for some strange reason tend to come in batches. More than once I've considered abandoning the site for this very reason. Unlike the sister sites SF supposedly is NOT for hobbyists, so why are they being encouraged to stay?

Karla is correct - at some point we were all beginners - but I can't see what that matters. Had SF existed back before I started working as an IT professional I would not have considered it the appropriate place to post my newbie questions. There's a whole Internet full of more appropriate sites.

I have mixed feelings on this. There are some beginner level questions being asked by professionals who are working in an area outside their comfort zone. I don't downvote such questions unless they are just plain poorly written. I believe this question to be an example, although whether that is really a system administration issue or not is a whole other matter.

Where I do readily downvote and/or vote to either move or close, is where it is clear that the poster is NOT an IT professional. Certainly not as per the FAQ description. Moreover, I believe that any upvotes given to questions that are later moved or closed should be removed and the rep adjusted accordingly.

A case in point is this question. What sort of IT professional, in any area whatsoever, would think that question is so good as to warrant an upvote? Yet when I first saw it there were already four upvotes. I realise the question originated on SO but even a hobby level programmer should know better than to upvote such a question.

In my opinion the value of Server Fault as a tool for professionals is seriously restricted by having to sift through the dross of inappropriate questions, which for some strange reason tend to come in batches. More than once I've considered abandoning the site for this very reason. Unlike the sister sites SF supposedly is NOT for hobbyists, so why are they being encouraged to stay?

Karla is correct - at some point we were all beginners - but I can't see what that matters. Had SF existed back before I started working as an IT professional I would not have considered it the appropriate place to post my newbie questions. There's a whole Internet full of more appropriate sites.