Questions tagged [close-reasons]
The close-reasons tag has no usage guidance.
68 questions
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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 ...
29
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6
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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 ...
27
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5
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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 ...
19
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4
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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 ...
17
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1
answer
434
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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 ...
17
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2
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520
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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 ...
17
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3
answers
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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." ...
15
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2
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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. ...
14
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16
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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
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2
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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 ...
11
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2
answers
279
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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
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2
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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 ...
10
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5
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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 ...
10
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2
answers
238
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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 ...
9
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3
answers
769
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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.
...
9
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1
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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 ...
8
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4
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346
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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 ...
6
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3
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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:
...
5
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2
answers
104
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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 ...
5
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2
answers
123
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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 ...
4
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4
answers
166
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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 ...
4
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5
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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
...
4
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5
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100
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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 ...
4
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2
answers
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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 ...
4
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1
answer
149
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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 ...
4
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1
answer
189
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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 ...
4
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1
answer
90
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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 ...
3
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5
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293
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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 ...
3
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3
answers
150
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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, ...
3
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2
answers
124
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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 ...
3
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3
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163
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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
...
3
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2
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139
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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 ...
3
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1
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101
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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 ...
3
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1
answer
149
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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 ...
3
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4
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146
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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?
...
3
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2
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83
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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 ...
3
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3
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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 ...
2
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5
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107
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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 ...
2
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4
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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 ...
2
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1
answer
189
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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 ...
2
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1
answer
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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 ...
2
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1
answer
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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?
2
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1
answer
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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 ...
2
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1
answer
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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 ...
2
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1
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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 ...
2
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1
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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 ...
2
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1
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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 ...
1
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5
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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 ...
1
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3
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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 ...
1
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2
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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 ...