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Since it may be on topic because it's a server product on here, but it may also be on topic on Superuser, what is the ruling on questions where the desktop OS is actually Windows Server, even if it's not providing "server" functionality?

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If…

  • …You are using/supporting Windows Server as a workstation as part of your responsibilities as a system administrator in a professional environment (as part of your duties for a company/client)
  • …and/or your question is about system administration functionality (i.e. not "How do I install MS Word on this box?")
  • and you are the administrator of the system in question

Your question is probably fine here. It would be the same as asking about Win7 Professional in my view.

If this is for personal/home use, your question is more along the lines of "How do I install X on Y?", or you are not the system/network administrator responsible for the equipment in question this is probably the wrong place to ask -- especially if you're not the administrator responsible (the only answer you get will almost certainly be "Call your system administrator and let them do their job!" :-)

(See also: The Most Holy and Revered FAQ, though I can see where there's some ambiguity in this case)

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  • Already checked there, just before I posted :P Thanks though
    – Canadian Luke
    Commented Mar 26, 2012 at 22:06
  • Our FAQ is much better than it used to be, but there's probably still a lot of room for clarification and improvement. Being that I'm the one who whapped that hornet's nest with a cricket bat last time I'm waiting a while before raising new concerns about it :-)
    – voretaq7 Mod
    Commented Mar 26, 2012 at 22:08
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    The FAQ rewrite was such a slow and laborious a process that there should be no rush to go through it again, even if we disregard the unwarranted and unjustified interference by SE staff that made the experience even more painful.
    – John Gardeniers
    Commented Mar 27, 2012 at 12:21
  • @JohnGardeniers We also have other things that need attention (tag cleanups for one) that are more important :).
    – voretaq7 Mod
    Commented Mar 27, 2012 at 15:01
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Just because the word server is part of the site name doesn't mean questions are necessarily about servers or that all server questions are on topic. It's not the machine or the OS that determines topicality but the actual question itself. As you've provided no context it's impossible to say in your specific case where you question might belong, if anywhere.

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  • Understandable; I was hoping for guidelines for determining which site should have which
    – Canadian Luke
    Commented Mar 27, 2012 at 18:34
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    @Luke, it depends entirely on what the question is. e.g. "What colour should I paint my server?" belongs nowhere, despite being about a server.
    – John Gardeniers
    Commented Mar 28, 2012 at 3:51
  • I think that John did provide guidelines. If the fact that the OS is a server distro is entirely incidental to the question, or if you are trying to make a server do non-server things then its unlikely to be on topic here. Keep in mind that "guidelines" aren't the same as an exhaustive list of sample questions and where they belong.
    – Rob Moir
    Commented Mar 28, 2012 at 9:25

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