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Note: This is for reference to point users who ask questions that will incite recommending software. We generally do not advocate users asking for software recommendations, however there are times that a question requires the recommendation of a piece of software.

If you're looking to answer a question that may involve recommending software, please read this post first.

I have a problem that I need solved, and it may require the recommendation of software. How do I ask these type of questions so that they aren't closed?

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up vote 23 down vote accepted

There are two ways to generally ask questions of this nature. The Good and the Bad.

How NOT TO ASK questions that may require a software solution:

  • "What the best software?"
  • "List out pieces of software that does "
  • or this question's sister: "Is there something that does "
  • "What is an alternative to ?"

These questions are not useful to the general community and lead to "fluffy" link only answers. They really don't solve any problems (the main focus of this site) and it's hard to filter what is good and what isn't when there are 10+ answers all at the same rough vote count.

How TO ASK questions that may require a software solution:

First of all: Do your research. Have you thoroughly searched for an answer before? Do you even have a real problem you need to solve? And if so, have you attempted to solve the problem yourself? Instead of assuming a solution, ask about your problem instead.

So, if you did your research and you can describe the problem to us, then here's how to ask:

  • "I have that I don't know how to solve. I've already tried X, Y, Z. How do I do this?"
  • "I have that doesn't work anymore. How do I troubleshoot or fix this"
    With these types of questions, make sure that you're as detailed as you can about the issues. If you just say "My program doesn't open!" and that's it, it will be closed. Also, be open to other pieces of software that may solve you solution (hence why it's here)

These questions are problem based, and lead to useful answers. There may be recommendations of software in the answers, but those answers should also show you HOW to solve the problem as well.

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Be prepared that some of the recommendations will perfectly answer your question as stated to conform to the rules of the site, but still not be right for you. That alone is no reason to mark them bad answers by downvoting. This site is not your personal computer troubleshooting service, but a public Q&A site where your question will help many others as well in finding a solution to their similar problem, including those willing to install third party software, to run the solution in a virtual machine or emulator if absolutely necessary, or to pay for software, possibly unlike you. – Daniel Beck♦ Aug 8 '12 at 4:57
You might need to explain why "Is there something that does x-action" is not acceptable, but "I have problem-x that I don't know how to solve. How do I do this?" is. The former is very close to "I want to do x-action, how can I do that?" and that's perfectly acceptable. I assume x-action is e.g. sync files between Linux computers, or getting rid of red eyes in photos. – Daniel Beck♦ Aug 14 '12 at 8:34
Related: What is the XY problem? – kinokijuf Aug 19 '12 at 12:21
Do you guys mind if we lift this wholesale for Android Enthusiasts? We have similar issues with people asking for app recommendations. – Al Everett Dec 21 '12 at 14:03
@AlEverett go ahead man! This is meant to be useful for all. – KronoS Dec 21 '12 at 17:33
@Jack I appreciate your contributions however I rolled back your edits. The reason being that your suggestions may illicit answers that aren't of a high quality. For example "is something possible" can be answered with a simple yes or no and that's it. Those aren't very well thought answers or questions. – KronoS Jan 18 at 6:56
meta-comment: @KronoS - I don't know if you can edit your own comments (I can't), but where you wrote "illicit" you meant "elicit" - they mean rather different things... Feel free to delete this comment. – yosh m Mar 7 at 17:27
@yoshm you can edit comments within a certain allotted time period (a minute or two I believe). Thanks for finding the error though ;) – KronoS Mar 7 at 18:35

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