Questions tagged [discussion]
The question you're asking is designed to solicit opinions or best-practices on a particular topic, with the goal of reaching community consensus.
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Why SF is failing - the dismal future of ServerFault
This is a Canonical Question about the scope of Server Fault and the attitude of the community.
This is in response to Questions to ask the SE staff regarding the future of ServerFault
Why am I ...
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33
votes
6
answers
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Why the major FAQ/help change?
We get a LOT of seriously off-topic questions on ServerFault.
This is because new users either can't comprehend the word 'server' in the site name or because they skipped the old, and very clear, FAQ....
- 102k
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2014 Moderator Election Q&A - Questionnaire
In connection with the moderator elections, we are holding a Q&A thread for the candidates. Questions collected from an earlier thread have been compiled into this one, which shall now serve as ...
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Should we enable Tag Specific Popups
Some time ago we requested Clippy Pop out to help people ask a better question.
(time passed)
Someone else asked for a similar feature on mSE.
(more time passed)
This feature has been added to ...
- 117k
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Do you have a checklist that can help me ask a better question?
This is a Canonical Question / FAQ Candidate to help our new users ask better questions,
and hopefully get better answers. Similar questions:
How can I ask better questions on Server Fault?
...
- 117k
19
votes
8
answers
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Inactive mods on SF - Or are they?
An interesting discussion just spun up on the SF chat, which clearly showed that some of us have strong feelings about how this site should be moderated - and who's job it is.
We have certain mods ...
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4
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Edit powers activate! Removing Hi/Thanks
The format of StackExchange sites in general discourages the sort of letter-format questions common elsewhere. You know what I'm talking about:
Hi,
I have ${problem}. It has ${details}. Any ...
sysadmin1138Mod
- 135k
17
votes
3
answers
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When to post on Serverfault vs Stackoverflow?
I've just started using Stackoverflow, and it's been very useful. I asked a question once on here that was much more technical (decoding a wordpress hack), but I'm confused in general about why to use ...
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2
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Where do SQL questions belong?
Should questions about SQL (the language, not the server) be asked on SF or SO?
There are a reasonable number of questions about SQL already on SF but before posing any myself (quite possible due to ...
- 27.6k
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7
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How do I get better answers?
How do I get better answers? Or perhaps more accurately, How can I ask better questions?
Specifically what kind of information are other system administrators looking for posters to provide in order ...
15
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2
answers
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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. ...
- 80.5k
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8
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How to attract more professionals?
This topic has been discussed before but I do not believe it to be exhaustive. During the first chat beta, Jeff Atwood and I were discussing potential areas where SF could be marketed to ...
- 24k
12
votes
4
answers
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Proposed change to Server Fault guidelines, round 2
I'd like to propose some changes to the guidelines in our help center on what questions are on topic.
The goals of this change are:
Alter the language to focus on the question being asked as opposed ...
- 116k
10
votes
2
answers
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Question about Migrated post that was closed
I am a moderator at Drupal answers, and migrated this question to SF a few days ago. I migrated it because it didn't really have anything to do with Drupal or Drupal configuration. It is essentially ...
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3
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Deleting closed questions with no answers
I don't think there any reason why we shouldn't delete questions like these. They are closed, have no answers and are very unlikely to get reopened - they (largely*) have no value. The
It takes 3 ...
- 117k
9
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4
answers
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What is (or what should be) the etiquette for editing old questions or posts?
I ask primarily because it's come up, and I've gotten conflicting advice and requests.
Seeing the bad tag thread (and a lot of the other hideousness from "back when"), plus having a lot of time on my ...
- 54k
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2
answers
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What's the correct policy when encountering a question that has no possible answer
I know I'm new to this site, but I frequently find myself looking at questions such as this one:
https://serverfault.com/questions/354940/sudo-selectively-using-nopasswd
It has no possible answer, ...
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4
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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 ...
- 78.3k
6
votes
2
answers
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List of questions for candidates in 2011 moderator election [closed]
Blatantly stolen from the meta.maths elections
This thread is opened for questions addressed to (all) the candidates in the January 2011 moderator election.
If questions are kept simple enough they ...
- 69.2k
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2
answers
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Why was this XAMPP question closed and why are so many XAMPP questions being closed?
https://serverfault.com/questions/456881/how-to-make-xampp-virtual-hosts-accessible-to-vms-and-other-computers-on-lan
So, I went over the FAQ BEFORE posting the question. Now, I happen to think I am ...
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why was the question on dev server setup moved to SU?
Coming from question:
How do I get Windows XP Professional upgrade to boot directly without having to choose it at startup?
Why doesn't this question belong to SF?
It seems to fall into 2 ...
42
votes
2
answers
644
views
I think we're overdoing "get a new job" recommendations in comments
Is that OK to leave a small endless loop script running on server?
Powershell assistance for Active Directory Cleanup
Those are two examples that I've seen in the last day. Neither of which deal ...
- 101k
42
votes
10
answers
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Should Server Fault be removed from Stack Overflow's migration list?
At the end of October, Shog9 said:
If SO migrations are truly a problem, then you get removed as a migration target completely. No user migrations, period.
as a response to this m.SO question ...
- 101k
32
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2
answers
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I'm challenging us to make the Christmas 2014 season be known as "killing them with kindness"
EDIT: IT'S OVER...hopefully it helped some...now to continue on down the road...
tl;dr? Just see the bold...
After reading both of these meta questions:
Why is the Server Fault community so ...
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7
answers
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Worse than usenet? Our image to prospective new users.
Last week, I spoke to a colleague who had some problems where he asked me for help but I didn't knew an immediate answer. I suggested to ask a question on ServerFault, but he denied, claiming this ...
- 99.9k
29
votes
3
answers
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Let us (continue to) close old, off-topic questions about web hosting control panels
I'm not going to rehash all the drama of the last few days surrounding our former moderator HopelessN00b's mass closing of old, off-topic questions about web hosting control panels, but something ...
- 250k
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votes
2
answers
294
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Modifying the faq, shopping edition
The 'product recommendation' question occurs here a lot. I propose we modify the existing FAQ language:
and it is not about …
Networking outside the professional workplace
Running servers at home ...
sysadmin1138Mod
- 135k
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votes
36
answers
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It's Santa Time!
Let's do this. What with the DramaLlama being out in full force, I think it's time to take a breather and bring the funny back. To wit: I propose the Santification of your gravatars till after the new ...
27
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4
answers
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Should someone post an answer when all they did was Google Fu?
I answered a question today while knowing little about the subject, and all I did was Google. True, some googlers are better than others, and perhaps I deserved the 1 upvote I got for such. However, ...
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Community Promotion Ads - 2013 [duplicate]
As it is December 2012, we are now going to reset our Community Promotion Ads for the new year.
What are Community Promotion Ads?
Community Promotion Ads are community-vetted advertisements that ...
24
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7
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Where to ask complex but home network questions?
The new blog post on the SuperUser blog says that home networking questions should now be asked on SuperUser. But this has been bothering me: What about complex home networking questions?
It may be ...
- 1,003
23
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16
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BOFH Gravatar Week - Let's keep going!
This is your chance to show your true colours...
Use the (semi-) official Bastard Operator From Hell Gravatar for a week or a while. I don't think there's any particular reason, it just seemed like ...
- 12.9k
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2
answers
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Formally changing the #4 migration target
Whereas, the migration statistics as discovered in this meta post show a demonstrated and ongoing trend of mod-only migrations to dba.stackexchange.com, and
Whereas, Webmasters has not resided in the ...
sysadmin1138Mod
- 135k
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3
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Should the rep requirement for creating tags on Server Fault be raised?
I have a simple question, per the title, that I'd like community feedback on before venturing over to Stack Exchange meta and/or bugging one of the Stack Exchange Community Managers.
Should the rep ...
- 54k
22
votes
2
answers
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How to handle unanswered questions that have the answer in a comment or edited into the question?
This is about those two questions:
httpd.conf match absolute file
PHP 5.3 Not Logging
Both had no answer (neither accepted nor unaccepted).
Both askers answered it without actually writing an answer,...
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8
answers
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Why are learning materials questions off-topic?
I asked a question looking for pointers to overview materials about VPNs, as opposed to product-specific documentation. It was very promptly closed as 'off-topic' on the grounds that "Questions ...
- 253
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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 ...
- 18.6k
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votes
4
answers
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What's off-topic; anything in a home setting, or anything that was designed for home use?
For our FAQ reshaping, I think we need to decide something:
Do we hurl questions over to Super User based solely on using a consumer-oriented product, even when it's clear that that product is being ...
- 116k
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3
answers
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Are questions on Docker suitable for ServerFault?
I am building a command line script (Linux-based) for which I have a Dockerfile to define a Docker container within which I do testing etc.
I have a question about why the HOME directory is not ...
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9
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Community Promotion Ads - 2012 [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Community Promotion Ads - 2013
Apparently there's never been one of these on Server Fault. Let's amend that, shall we? ♪
What are Community Promotion Ads?
Community ...
17
votes
7
answers
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Should licensing questions be closed?
After seeing yet another licensing question I'm wondering whether I'm right in thinking they should be closed. While it can be difficult or slow getting answers for technical questions from the ...
- 27.6k
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4
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Interpretation of Off Topic
I'm seeing a fair number of questions that are getting closed as off topic on a regular basis, I'm trying to understand why this is the case. The type of questions are those that involve desktops or ...
user11604
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5
answers
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Are RaspberryPi's ever on topic for ServerFault?
I'm seeing more questions to do with RaspberryPi boards. This latest one set me off: Why can't I stream more than 1 file using nginx?
Is there a belief that RaspberryPis can be used in a professional ...
- 32.9k
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4
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Can we turn down the campaign heat, please?
Watching some of the moderator nomination comment threads, I get the mental image of a bucket brigade. And all the buckets contain gasoline.
I'm not terribly surprised or offended by those who are ...
- 33.3k
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votes
12
answers
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2013 Moderator Election Q&A - Question Collection
In connection with the moderator elections, we will be holding a Q&A with the candidates. This will be an opportunity for members of the community to pose questions to the candidates on the topic ...
- 101
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votes
7
answers
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2013 Moderator Election Q&A - Questionnaire
In connection with the moderator elections, we are holding a Q&A thread for the candidates. Questions collected from an earlier thread have been compiled into this one, which shall now serve as ...
- 101
15
votes
8
answers
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Changing the site subtitle
There has been some disquiet and discussion recently about the number of poor inbound migrations to Serverfault.
One suggestion is that our subtitle
Q&A for system administrators and desktop ...
- 117k
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4
answers
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Serverfault, superuser, or nowhere?
I have a question that I'd like to post, which is entirely business related, which concerns connecting a home worker to a corporate network using an ADSL router with a VPN client built in to it. The ...
user11604
14
votes
5
answers
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Are we upvoting/downvoting questions for the right reasons?
tl;dr: in the tooltip for upvoting/downvoting of questions is the semicolon(;) considered an and/or (meaning do we upvote if it is clear and useful but no research, or upvote for research but not ...
- 32.8k
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7
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Should we modify the FAQ to include policy subversion as explicitly Off Topic?
Based on some of the comments here I went and looked at the FAQ again. We've always, as far as I can remember, closed policy subversion questions as Off Topic.
The question that brought this up is ...
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