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Im a long time StackOverflow user and I just asked the question "What ports do I need to forward in my router for strongSwan?" And was told it was off-topic for being SOHO (whatever that means?) And easily Google-able. No it is not. I googled it, I perused the docs, I couldn't find it anywhere. I just got down votes with no proper explanation. A duplicate was found (that was not off-topic), but the duplicate used completely different terms (IPSec instead of strongSwan etc.) hence I did not find it. I still don't understand why the question was treated like it was the stupidest thing in the world to ask.

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  1. Your question was originally primary a "link me to the docs" question. We don't accept these.
  2. Personally, I think the remaining part after your edit isn't much better and still borderline off-topic for "product or documentation request". Yes, "provide me a list of ports" is a documentation request in my view.

  3. After your edit, I nevertheless changed your question to be a duplicate of another, older question that has an answer to your question. Incidentally, it took me around 30secs to find this one with Google.

  4. I also noted that your request for port forwarding rules sounds like SOHO use (small office/home office), as typically, you won't use port forwarding in a production service in regular environments. Home office use is also strictly off-topic here and in your last comment before you deleted your question, you admitted that this question is for a test from your home, and thus clearly off-topic. No, questions about running a production server are not off-topic here, but questions about test environments and anything from your home are.

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  • Ok, I did not know Small Office / Home Office was off topic here, but I still was unable to Google this. You were able to Google it because you searched for something I did not, like IPSec. I did not know there were standard ports for IPSec. I was looking for strongSwan. Do you not see that you simply have too much domain knowledge to know what a n00b would consider Google-able. I'm telling you, you come off as rude and elitist.
    – user448564
    Commented Oct 5, 2018 at 17:34
  • Sorry meant to say you have too much domain knowledge, not lack domain knowledge
    – user448564
    Commented Oct 5, 2018 at 17:36
  • Wow, I get it now, any question I ask on SF would be off-topic. Well then, y'all have a nice day. I won't be coming back here. meta.serverfault.com/conduct
    – user448564
    Commented Oct 5, 2018 at 18:08
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    For the record: You were the one not following the CoC by asking an off-topic question. As stupid as it is, the CoC doesn't give you carte blanche to off-load everything here and get a nice, warm, fuzzy welcome. And don't get me started on your deleted comment which I saw - you really should take a very long, hard read on that organization and then think even longer about if you really want to compare anyone having a silly disagreement with you on the internet to those people.
    – Sven Mod
    Commented Oct 5, 2018 at 18:26
  • The current wording on serverfault.com/help/on-topic does not say home office questions are off-topic. If you are managing a workstation used for business purposes from a home office that page says you’re in the right place to ask your question!
    – kasperd
    Commented Oct 8, 2018 at 19:43
  • @kasperd: In my view, this is covered by "consumer workstations/networking", as it is usually indistinguishable from non-business purposes in such environments and Super User is the place that can help with that much better.
    – Sven Mod
    Commented Oct 9, 2018 at 14:12
  • If the term "consumer workstation" is supposed to mean anything it is what hardware it's made of, not where it is located. Of cause all network connections are not made equal. But that difference has more to do with the ISP than the system being asked about in such questions. And I haven't seen evidence of a strong correlation between the practices of ISPs and whether they are servicing a home or a business. Based on my own experience residential connections tend to better follow reasonable business practices than office connections.
    – kasperd
    Commented Oct 9, 2018 at 16:25
  • A idea is we could maybe add some texts to add some example, I dont know if it's easy to ask to SE or if it's a pain to do. As I would write it to be sure to target business gear but used in a home usage too. (I seen some questions in the past to upgrade old server to play on, or is not supported by a home OS in example)
    – yagmoth555 Mod
    Commented Oct 9, 2018 at 17:52

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