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Questions tagged [close-reasons]

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49 votes
5 answers
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ServerFault Fundamentalism

There has been a shift in tone in ServerFault over the last few years. When it started, the focus seemed to be on providing an open resource for professional admins to help figure out problems. Now ...
wfaulk's user avatar
  • 6,988
29 votes
6 answers
738 views

We should bring back the "question must show a minimal understanding" close reason

As per this discussion, the old "questions must demonstrate a minimal understanding of the problem being solved" close reason has been replaced. However, questions such as this one (*) (and ...
Massimo's user avatar
  • 72.3k
27 votes
5 answers
636 views

I think we're overdoing "that's not professional" comments

[Most of this post blatantly ripped off from MDMarra's] https://serverfault.com/questions/590349/compiling-newer-version-of-apache-in-fedora-14 ... is the question that prompted my post, but this ...
Ward - Trying Codidact's user avatar
19 votes
4 answers
296 views

Proposed close reason: Ask your vendor/sysadmin

ChrisS said here that y'all were looking for text for an "ask your vendor" close reason. I'd like to propose: Questioners must have required access to fix the problem. Some questions are more ...
Katherine Villyard's user avatar
17 votes
1 answer
434 views

Rewriting "minimal understanding"

This current close reason is confusing and potentially misleading. Questions must demonstrate a minimal understanding of the problem being solved. Try including attempted solutions, why they didn't ...
Michael Hampton's user avatar
17 votes
2 answers
520 views

Do we consider Bitnami to fall under the cPanel close reason?

It's not exactly a cPanel-style system, but it shares the same characteristics - weird, specific, one-click configurations that are pervasive and difficult to debug and tweak. Is it legitimate to ...
ceejayoz's user avatar
  • 33.3k
17 votes
3 answers
413 views

Serial close-voting?

Is this considered a bad thing? i.e. if someone goes through a specific user's questions and casts a close vote on all (or most) of them? ...'cause I'm pretty sure someone is doing that to "Sandra." ...
Ward - Trying Codidact's user avatar
15 votes
2 answers
321 views

Clarifying "Novice questions are off-topic"

One of our close reasons reads as follows: Questions must be relevant to professional system administration. Server Fault is a site dedicated to professionals; novice questions are off-topic. ...
voretaq7's user avatar
  • 80.6k
14 votes
16 answers
807 views

New close reasons - Proposals (July 2013)

As everyone should be aware by now, a new off-topic close dialog has been implemented network-wide. The new system offers us the opportunity to customize our off-topic close reasons, and This post is ...
12 votes
2 answers
215 views

Is "the OP figured it out to be caused by something singular" a valid close reason?

The reason I am asking (before flagging the question) DNS issue for internal website routing internet connection from remote location got a comment from the OP The problem is solved. ... Turns ...
guntbert's user avatar
  • 699
11 votes
2 answers
279 views

We need a custom close reason for web hosting control panels

As part of our ongoing cleanup of old (and new) web hosting control panel questions, we need a custom close reason for web hosting control panels which explains the issue, why we are unable to accept ...
11 votes
2 answers
262 views

Linux Source code Closed Question closed on Serverfault

I noticed the Jeff Atwood close this server fault question for not being sysadmin realted: Linux Source Code "...am looking for the source code to learn about their working in Linux for all the ...
Kyle Brandt's user avatar
  • 85.1k
10 votes
5 answers
473 views

What can we do to fix the "Reasonable management practices" close reason?

I don't like it! Let's make it better, because it's weak. What questions are being closed right now with it where it's not conveying what we want it to? Are they "you're on the wrong site", "you're ...
Shane Madden's user avatar
10 votes
2 answers
238 views

Clarifying the "shopping question" close reason

Our custom close reason for shopping questions is confusing. It currently reads: Questions seeking product, service, or learning material recommendations are off-topic because they tend to become ...
Michael Hampton's user avatar
9 votes
3 answers
769 views

Using "not a real question" as a close reason on questions that have answers

I saw this question closed as Not A Real Question (NARQ). What I want to discuss is not this closure in particular, but rather the act of closing a question as NARQ when it already has an answer. ...
Mark Henderson's user avatar
9 votes
1 answer
218 views

Please be more careful with your choice of close reason

I refer specifically to this question: Netgear GS724T - all lights are always on - although this is just one specific example, I see this repeatedly day after day on different questions. netgear ...
Mark Henderson's user avatar
8 votes
4 answers
346 views

Remove "Professional" close-reason

The third close-reason is currently: Questions must be relevant to professional system administration. Server Fault is dedicated to professional system and network administrators. End user and ...
Chris S's user avatar
  • 78.3k
6 votes
3 answers
210 views

Can we weed out the benchmarking questions?

I propose a change to the FAQ and closing policy: I'd like to see all of the benchmarking questions closed with prejudice; I'm tired of seeing them. In my mind, the answer is almost always the same: ...
gWaldo's user avatar
  • 12k
5 votes
2 answers
104 views

Question that cannot be answered?

Can I have a question closed, or should I move it to community wiki, or...what's the best practice? Specifically Windows Update not working on Windows Server 2008 R2, simply because there is no way ...
Brian Deragon's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
123 views

Please reinstate "must know what you are talking about" close reason

As already discussed here, I think there is a serious problem with people asking questions which are utterly and totally unanswerable because they don't have a clue about what they are doing. Those ...
Massimo's user avatar
  • 72.3k
4 votes
4 answers
166 views

Is nginx off-topic?

In reviewing today I happened across this question which has been closed as off-topic. The question is a pretty simple one about Nginx modules and administrative control panels, and I'm baffled as to ...
pjmorse's user avatar
  • 1,650
4 votes
5 answers
218 views

How to deal with Windows Home Server questions on Serverfault?

Should questions about Microsoft's Windows Home Server be closed on Serverfault or tolerated (until SuperUser.com goes online)? I'm sitting on the fence, because they certainly "violate" the FAQ maxim ...
splattne's user avatar
  • 28.7k
4 votes
5 answers
100 views

What to do with the "Hidden features of ..." question collections?

I just spotted this question on the front page, and I think this one and it's siblings listed in there should be closed/locked like their relatives (e.g.. the command line tools on Windows). What do ...
Sven's user avatar
  • 100k
4 votes
2 answers
107 views

Why was my rsync filter question regarding a business merger closed?

i asked rsync not removing single quotes around array of strings --filter list on ServerFault, but it was closed as off-topic without explanation. i am trying to automate a safe way to move files ...
rjt's user avatar
  • 594
4 votes
1 answer
149 views

New close reason - Proposals (April 2015)

I have been more active in the close queue lately and found myself looking for specific close reasons, or even anything close to them, but not seeing them. I don't know the proper process for ...
MDMoore313's user avatar
  • 5,626
4 votes
1 answer
189 views

Should we have a "general reference" close reason?

I've been noticing an influx of questions lately which not only show a total lack of research, but are completely and thoroughly answered in the product documentation. Such questions almost always ...
Michael Hampton's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
90 views

Can the off-topic close reasons be re-arranged?

Now that there's a re-written shopping question close reason, the generic "not relevant to system administration" close reason has moved up. Is it possible to move it back? i.e. so that it's just ...
Ward - Trying Codidact's user avatar
3 votes
5 answers
293 views

On-topic question closed as off topic?

As a user of Stack Exchange sites for a while now, I have often been frustrated by the lack or predictability in whether a question will be up-voted, down-voted or closed. In general, I do not ask ...
Nick's user avatar
  • 4,696
3 votes
3 answers
150 views

What's the best close reason for impossible troubleshooting questions?

We have the "insufficient info to troubleshoot" close reason: Questions seeking installation, configuration or diagnostic help must include the desired end state, the specific problem or error, ...
Ward - Trying Codidact's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
124 views

Minecraft Server Questions--VTC?

I'm honestly confused as to whether I should be VTCing these or not. I'm looking at them and trying to decide if they refer to technology that's useful outside of Minecraft servers or not, and using ...
Katherine Villyard's user avatar
3 votes
3 answers
163 views

Why doesn't ServerFault allow questions about unsupported hardware/software platforms?

I ran across a question today with the following close reason: Questions should demonstrate reasonable business information technology management practices. Questions that relate to unsupported ...
9072997's user avatar
  • 260
3 votes
2 answers
139 views

Should we introduce a close reason for old, unanswered and unlike-to-be-answered questions?

Inspired by this question randomly popping up on the front page, although it hasn't been edited and no new answers of comments have been posted for more than three years. I guess this is due to some ...
Massimo's user avatar
  • 72.3k
3 votes
1 answer
101 views

closed serverfault question

I am reading this closed question and I find the reason for closing it a bit confusing: Why does it matter the environment where the issue occurs, since it could equally happen both at home for ...
Costin Gușă's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
149 views

Duplicate of a locked "historical significance" question?

This question https://serverfault.com/questions/590163/monitoring-server-statistics Is being marked as a duplicate of What tool do you use to monitor your servers? The latter question is a locked ...
Grant's user avatar
  • 18k
3 votes
4 answers
146 views

Should we be more tolerant of qualitative questions?

It seems to me that "Not Constructive" is being overused... I was thinking about this after having a question of mine closed: What are the benefits of "enterprise-level" virtualization? ...
Ward - Trying Codidact's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
83 views

Advice needed on how to improve specific question

I'm after some advice. I asked the question below in good faith but it's been closed (as non-constructive) and I'm at a bit of a loss in figurng out how I can ask it the right way. Any help ...
Adrian K's user avatar
  • 435
3 votes
3 answers
130 views

A plea to reopen

Pardon me if this isn't proper etiquette, but I'm not sure where to politic for votes, so when in doubt, meta. This question of mine was closed as off topic. Perhaps I could have framed it better for ...
jldugger's user avatar
  • 14.6k
2 votes
5 answers
107 views

Choosing the appropriate close reason

So I recently gained the vote-to-close privilege, but I'm often not sure what the most appropriate close reason is. NARQ and Not Constructive seem very similar, and I see a lot of questions being ...
mgorven's user avatar
  • 31.2k
2 votes
4 answers
151 views

Deleted post: why mine, and not many others on the same question?

This answer on a question about what seems to be a rogue IT security adviser was deleted. My guess about the closure is because it repeats another answer. However, it's just a guess. It would be ...
Peter K.'s user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
189 views

What's wrong with my question concerning VMware?

My latest question has been closed as off topic. I've read the FAQ and am quite sure my question was both practical and answerable (indeed it was answered and the answer solved the problem). I thought ...
maaartinus's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
88 views

Why is my question about docker-compose off-topic?

After searching for an answer to my problem, I decided to ask on SF, because there are many other docker related questions here. Here is my question: Docker version 18.06.X, but compose format 3.X ...
monster's user avatar
  • 618
2 votes
1 answer
72 views

Where are the "belongs on..." closing options?!?

I was trying to close this question as belonging on superuser.com, but I don't see anymore the "belongs on..." options when clicking the "close" button. What happened to them?
Massimo's user avatar
  • 72.3k
2 votes
1 answer
136 views

Where this is a web hosting control panel?

Override template homedir on FreeNAS 11.3 joined in Active Directory FreeNAS/TrueNAS is an enterprise grade storage system. This is not even near as a web hosting panel. Sorry for the honesty but ...
Vinícius Ferrão's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
301 views

clarification on off-topic "management interfaces"

I recently directed a user from StackOverflow to SuperUser, as they were asking a question about how to properly configure their apache-webserver (or more: why their configuration denied access to ...
umläute's user avatar
  • 529
2 votes
1 answer
176 views

Is the "Questions should demonstrate reasonable information technology management practices" close reason too subjective?

Questions should demonstrate reasonable information technology management practices. Questions that relate to unsupported hardware or software platforms or unmaintained environments may not be ...
Paul's user avatar
  • 3,213
2 votes
1 answer
81 views

Why is my question about subdomain usage with content delivery networks off-topic?

I wanted to know if there were any specific technical reasons why large enterprises do not use subdomains to identify their CDNs. I spent a fair amount of time carefully wording my question and ...
barbecue's user avatar
  • 361
2 votes
1 answer
146 views

Why was this question flagged as off-topic?

I have a question about my Server Fault post: Application is not accesible using a public IP address Why was this question marked as off-topic? It isn't related to development problems, and I don't ...
Benjy Malca's user avatar
1 vote
5 answers
202 views

Why was my question regarding premium domains closed?

My question regarding premium domain names was closed less than five minutes after I asked it for being "subjective and argumentative," with nothing but a single down vote to tell me why. I understand ...
dlras2's user avatar
  • 101
1 vote
3 answers
110 views

What makes this question “not real”?

I'm having a hard time understanding why this question was closed https://serverfault.com/questions/449735/inconsistency-in-a-popular-postfix-tutorial-about-directory-structure-for-virtua Of course ...
Desmond Hume's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
84 views

Question closed because it was not in a busness enviroment, but i'm doing it for a company?

Now I'm just trying to understand the following close reason in regard to my question: "Questions on Server Fault must be about managing information technology systems in a business environment. Home ...
Thijser's user avatar
  • 101