Timeline for Why are we so strict on the rules?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
11 events
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| Apr 13, 2017 at 12:14 | history | edited | CommunityBot |
replaced http://serverfault.com/ with https://serverfault.com/
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| Sep 28, 2016 at 12:25 | comment | added | Jenny D | @user121391 I am sorry to have failed to express myself in a way that you are able to understand. Since direct statements with links to the list of what is considered off-topic is not clear enough for you, I am at a loss how to proceed, and so I give up. | |
| Sep 28, 2016 at 11:50 | comment | added | user121391 | Actually, either ignoring or changing the rules results in the same outcome, see also my comment on my own answer regarding that. Andrew main argument is that any rules in the real world always produce a certain amount of edge cases and therefore changing of the rules achieves less than ignoring them (being more lenient). Also, you have stated multiple times that this was no edge case, but never why. One can only assume from your answer that all requests for tools are off-topic, but not all are closed. In fact, most remain open (and rightfully so, as they are useful). | |
| Sep 28, 2016 at 10:16 | comment | added | Jenny D | As I have said, this is not an edge case. You may want it to not be off-topic, but if so, you need to actually change the rules for what is and is not on-topic. Again, if you want to change the rules so that this question becomes on-topic, the thing to do is to suggest that the rules be changed, not ignored. | |
| Sep 28, 2016 at 8:41 | comment | added | Reaces | @user121391 I disagree. If you want to propose a change, be specific. If you're not specific in what you want to change then Jenny's reply, which is just stating that she disagrees with the basic premise of that original question being only slightly off-topic, is a valid response. | |
| Sep 28, 2016 at 8:29 | comment | added | user121391 | I view this question as a proposed rule change, do you not? He asks "Why can't we give askers the benefit of the doubt and assume that it isn't off topic on edge cases?" which means "Why do we need such a strict rule?" Not all proposals have to start with "I propose the following:" - sometimes it is enough to say "guys, I think we could improve X, what do you think?", where X is a rule (that might or might not be changed depending on outcome of the discussion). | |
| Sep 28, 2016 at 8:13 | comment | added | Jenny D | Yes, that is what I am saying. That is what the entire help section, which I helpfully linked to in my answer, says. If you think the rule is bad, you should propose a rules change, not propose that the rule remain and people just pretend it doesn't. | |
| Sep 28, 2016 at 8:10 | comment | added | user121391 | Administration is much more reliant on tools (as all programs are tools in this case, even OS and included software) than for example Computer Science (where tools are only helping, but strictly never needed) or even programming. What you are saying essentially equals to "If your problem does not fit our rules set in stone exactly, go away!" - Which is ironically exactly what Andrew Hendrix criticized. He asked why the rules are so strictly enforced, you say that they are (which is already known, hence this topic). | |
| Sep 28, 2016 at 7:53 | comment | added | Jenny D | Yes, and in those cases you should go to a site that does software recommendations, not one that considers them explicitly off-topic. The fact that sometimes a recommendation is what you need doesn't mean that this has to be the place for it. | |
| Sep 28, 2016 at 7:49 | comment | added | user121391 | -1: he is looking for "a tool" in the sense of "I need to achieve a goal and it seems I might need a tool similar to those tools that I tried and that did not work", not in "what tool of those 10 is the best one?". You have to accept that some tasks just need tools to do them, it is not feasible to say "we cannot tell you which tool you need, just what you would need to do if you had to program it yourself!". It is good to keep it broad with general concepts, but sometimes you just have to do your task and need a tool that works. | |
| Sep 28, 2016 at 4:51 | history | answered | Jenny D | CC BY-SA 3.0 |