You could conceivably ask any IT related question on Server Fault and expect to have it answered. That would make us (like many other places) an helldesk for the internet. That is not our mission. We limit the scope to a business environment so that we are not overwhelmed by crappy questions from home users and the hoards of cluelessness that surrounds Stack Overflow. Sadly we have failed. Hanging on in quiet desperation...

We have changed our scope and reduced our quality requirements several times over. All it does it allow more crappier off topic questions. The end result being few people bother any more and the river of shit becomes Amazonian.

We are not strict enough. We let too much crap through and are now victims of broken windows.

I v-t-c because it is not about managing computers. In fact it seems to be more about how not to have to manage computers. It's just end user or programmer stuff really.

From my perspective most of the questions we see are at entry/beginner level and below.

@SamAndrew81 I the intervening nearly 6 years things have got much worse. SF is a a river of crappy questions that that even a modicum of effort would find but people are just too lazy and want someone else to read the docs for them. SF's scope has been downgraded to hell desk for stakoverflow.

@RyanBabchishin You are clearly not listening. You have not made the case for not polite. Until you do, there is clearly no need to change.

@RyanBabchishin This How about polite and nice while being direct (and firm I think sometimes)? Is that still too difficult? suggests to me that you feel you have made the case for not nice/polite

@RyanBabchishin Downvotes on meta indicate disagreement. People are free to think what they want. So it's ok for someone to think 'waste of skin' but it's not OK for them to say that directly to someone - it would quite rightly be flagged into oblivion. I don't see any argument or attacks here either. Oh and I don't see anyone openly disagreeing with bee nice either.

@RyanBabchishin I don't think you've made a case for things being impolite or not nice.

Nay, nay and thrice nay old chap. You need to hear what I'm saying and not disagree with me but ... ;)

Anyway it's not worth getting all het up about. SF is long past being in any way anything more than a place for the completely clueless to ask crappy questions.

Nice works both ways. I consider it not nice/impolite for people to ask questions without having done any personal research.

I have used all four of your 'under the RADAR' examples on more than one occasion IRL. Being direct is not at odds with being nice.

Anything that requires that someone reads something is pretty much write only,

@HBruijn No one who needs to ever reads anything... - Q.E.D. ( I wonder ...)

IIRC An exact copy (cut and paste with no embellishments) automagically raises a flag.