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Ok, I can't understand what I am supposed to post on that stackexchange site as everything I post gets downvoted, this for stackexchanges general policies too.

On stackoverflow I know I can post programming-related questions, why a code doesn't work, the best way to attempt something and so on, on super user I post general questions related to oses..but on serverfaul, a server related stack exchange:

1- I could post asking for what server would be good in order to solve my problem

--->question gets closed as stackexchange doesn't allow asking for technologies (and this is wrong on serverfault, imho as most of questions would be about technologies)

2- I could post asking about configuration problems, why my newly installed server gives me boot errors.

--->question gets downvoted and eventually closed as it is too simple and serverfault is for professionals (yes I got this answer...I am a student and I need help?No thanks, serverfault community is just for professionals)

3- I could post asking for a network architecture suggestion which had to solver my problem.

--->question gets closed as very subjective.

I am missing something here...and, just an ot, haven't you the feeling that serverfault's community is a little less friendly than other major stackexchanges sites? I often get rude answers while on other sites people are usually nicer...

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You've answered the question yourself:

serverfault community is just for professionals

That is it. If you don't ask questions useful to a professional systems administrator, this is not the place for your question.

The kind of questions you've asked so far are mostly the kind that a professional sysadmin is expected to be able to handle. You've asked why a particular option didn't work in openvirtswitch - reading the documentation would have told you that. You've asked open-ended discussion questions like "is A better than B or the other way around". You've asked basic ifconfig questions.

None of those are appropriate here. The help center has a section on what is appropriate and what is not. Please read it.

Most of your questions would be at home in http://superuser.com and some in http://unix.stackexchange.com. In both cases, you should start by googling for the answers and maybe searching those two sites, before posting. And also reading the Help Center for both sites.

Good luck!

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    Mmm...it sounds like a dog chasing his own tail. If I am a professional I don't need to ask advices to other professionals. I though server fault was a place to ask and share knowledge about network configuration/architectures problems. Take stackoverflow: there are a lot of interesting programming questions, but there are beginner questions too. Last day I asked a question about what to use between nfs and iscsi for a specific problem. I got insults because my scenario was too trivial...people didn't answer to my question, they just condemned my scenario.
    – Phate
    Commented Apr 13, 2014 at 15:25
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    @Phate If you're a professional, you are expected to have the basics down. If you need help with the basics, then you ask at one of the QA sites that are for answering basic questions. You wouldn't go to a discussion site for neurosurgeons and ask how to thread a suture needle, would you?
    – Jenny D
    Commented Apr 13, 2014 at 15:50
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    @Phate: If you are a professional we have expectations that you will know how to do your own research and present it as part of your question - you're not, you don't ... I also looked at your questions. You have a remarkably low hit rate too. This is a clue that SF isn't tuned in to your problem areas. You've asked ~25% (8/34) of the openvswitch questions and the tag itself doesn't have a good hit rate 19/34 unanswered. Perhaps SF isn't the place for you or openvswitch
    – user9517
    Commented Apr 13, 2014 at 16:02
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    @Iain It's true we don't have much openvswitch expertise here yet. Mainly that's because it's relatively new. The problem with these questions in particular is they betray a lack of sufficient knowledge of networking, which is a prerequisite for using Open vSwitch.
    – Michael Hampton Mod
    Commented Apr 13, 2014 at 16:04
  • @MichaelHampton a sewer before it even starts then :(
    – user9517
    Commented Apr 13, 2014 at 19:35
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    Phate, your very first comment on this answer is way off-beam. I've been doing this stuff for twenty years, and I learn something genuinely new from SF at least once a week. Every so often, I get so stumped that I have to ask a question, and the help I've got here is like gold dust to me. I don't want to comment on anything else you've said, as others are doing that, but I do want to squelch your idea that professionals don't need help from other pros. There is a need for that. There is a place for that. This is it.
    – MadHatter
    Commented Apr 13, 2014 at 20:27
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    @Iain Maybe, maybe not. It's just one of those very advanced things. I more-or-less know what I'm doing and even I find software defined networking rather complex. Someone who isn't well grounded in the fundamentals has no chance. And it isn't our place to teach those fundamentals, of course.
    – Michael Hampton Mod
    Commented Apr 13, 2014 at 23:41
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    @MadHatter Good professionals know that they have a strong grounding in certain areas, and that a good team is comprised of individuals who bring different strengths to the table. Bad professionals prefer others to think that they know everything. Bad managers expect them to.
    – Andrew B
    Commented Apr 14, 2014 at 22:50
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As an exercise to the reader, have a look at the questions asked by some of the most prolific question askers on the site (all of who are > 40k users mind you):

Have a look at how these questions differ from your own. There is a lot of knowledge to be shared on the site, but what you won't find in those questions linked above is "How do I derp" or "My server is herping, and I need it to derp, what CPU should I buy?".

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    "My server is herping, and I need it to derp" <--- I LOLed. :)
    – EEAA
    Commented Apr 14, 2014 at 0:53
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Ever since the SO/SU/SF triumvirate came about, people have been missing what SF is about. The other two are for anyone dealing with the topical area, SF changed it up in aiming for professionals. We've expended a lot of meta posts over the years about just what professional means in the context of our topic, but the state of the consensus right now is roughly:

  • Is asking about a system that the questioner directly manages as part of their paid work.
  • The system is a production system, production-mirror, or deploy-stage for a large system.
  • The questioner shows some understanding of their problem.

What's more, there are a few areas that we're manifestly not suited for:

  • Telling people which is the best system/config in general. We do in specific, and even then it's pretty rare we even have an answer for that. Break/Fix is far, far more common and likely to answer.
  • Advising people on which technologies to adopt. Other sites are more liberal than we are on this, I'll grant you that. But we're pretty hard about it (such questions are spam magnets bar none).
  • Requesting how-to guides. We don't do checklist install scripts around here, you're expected to be with it enough to write your own. We'll help you with a point on a checklist you're having trouble with, but we won't give you points 1 through 56.
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What is server fault for?

IT Professionals asking practical and answerable questions about production systems that they manage in a professional capacity.

I am a student and I need help?No thanks, serverfault community is just for professionals

It sounds like you've answered your own question.

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1- I could post asking for what server would be good in order to solve my problem

As you seem to understand, questions asking "what should I buy to fit these requirements" are off-topic on most/all SE sites.

2- I could post asking about configuration problems, why my newly installed server gives me boot errors.

--->question gets downvoted and eventually closed as it is too simple and serverfault is for professionals

Most questions that say "I installed x and it doesn't work right" aren't very good. In a few cases, the OP adds more specific information, but most of them are simply too broad - they require further troubleshooting to figure out what the problem is. Sometimes that can be done with comments, but not always.

3- I could post asking for a network architecture suggestion which had to solver my problem.

Again, most of these are too broad. There is rarely one ultimate, ideal architecture so the real answer is: "it depends" - it depends on your budget, your whims of the moment, your detailed needs. There are a few applications where you'd probably get broad agreement that Tech A + Tech B + Tech C is the best solution for your question, but those aren't very common.

haven't you the feeling that serverfault's community is a little less friendly than other major stackexchanges sites? I often get rude answers while on other sites people are usually nicer...

No, I don't think we're actually any less friendly. The thing is, anyone who's active on multiple SE sites sees this sort of complaint all the time: "Why are you guys here on this.stackexchange site so rude and unfriendly? On some other.stackexchange people are much more open to my questions..."

Downvoting and voting to close are not unfriendly, they're just part of the way SE sites work.

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    "Downvoting and voting to close are not unfriendly, they're just part of the way SE sites work." Indeed. In fact I'd go further - calling a group "unfriendly" when you've not taken the time to figure out how it is supposed to work is the actual unfriendly act here; it's expecting the world to change to fit you and that is selfish. Selfish acts are not friendly acts.
    – Rob Moir
    Commented Apr 14, 2014 at 11:44
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What about vendors/developers answering questions about their own products? There are a lot of free/community edition products discussed on SF, with users asking for help. Should support reps or developers from these companies be allowed to answer questions? (It was suggested on another posting that no).

You can argue YES since they are adding to the body of knowledge to serve (professional or not) administrators, or you can argue NO since SF is not "internet tech support". That really gets to the point of the question...

I think the purpose of SF is to build a detailed body of knowledge on admin tools/sw. Who should use it? Who cares. Who should be allowed to contribute? Who cares. There will be a wide range of questioners and responders...so long as the quality of answers is good that's all that matters.

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    Having support reps answer questions is not the problem. The problem is when you direct your users here for tech support.
    – EEAA
    Commented Jul 4, 2014 at 3:38
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    This aught to be it's own question. This previous discussion here on SF is relevant meta.serverfault.com/questions/5241/…. You you should not direct users of your community edition here. This community is not your unpaid support channel. Also relevant meta.stackexchange.com/questions/234700/…
    – user9517
    Commented Jul 4, 2014 at 6:07
  • We encourage everyone to use serverfault to support each other (all SF members should be doing that). We don't direct customers to server fault (support for customers is by email). If customers can create a body of knowledge from well structured and well answered questions it fits the purpose of SF. This is boiling down to should reps from answer questions about product if they work for the mfg of the product.
    – TSG
    Commented Jul 4, 2014 at 13:59
  • I've posted on the topic above you linked above. I have no doubt there is a fine line here - balancing the desire to attract users and quality answers to SF, with avoiding low-value or overly narrow how to questions.
    – TSG
    Commented Jul 4, 2014 at 14:37
  • The line is between allowing a community to coalesce around a topic, of which we have many and driving your customers here which we don't think is a good thing. See this answer here which I believe is still relevant.
    – user9517
    Commented Jul 4, 2014 at 15:29

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