The FAQ says (bold is mine):

You should only ask practical, answerable questions based on actual problems that you face.

However, there are many questions where the user basically asks us to explain some technology aspect; be it just out of curiosity, or for other reason, but definitely not because there is an actual problem that the person faces.

For example:

• Why is dial up so slow?
• Why can't routers use MAC addresses instead of private/local IP addresses?
• What is the “secret” behind the non-volatile effect of the Flash memories?
• Is the transistor count in hardware actual count?

These questions often draw lots of votes, both for the question itself and for the answers, and are rarely closed. However I think that most questions like these, where an answer is a wikipedia quote, are off-topic, according to the FAQ.

I think we should either:

A. Amend the faq to allow these questions.
B. Close them as off-topic as they appear.

What is your opinion?

The FAQ says (bold is mine):

You should only ask practical, answerable questions based on actual problems that you face.

However, there are many questions where the user basically asks us to explain some technology aspect; be it just out of curiosity, or for other reason, but definitely not because there is an actual problem that the person faces.

For example:

• Why is dial up so slow?
• Why can't routers use MAC addresses instead of private/local IP addresses?
• What is the “secret” behind the non-volatile effect of the Flash memories?
• Is the transistor count in hardware actual count?

These questions often draw lots of votes, both for the question itself and for the answers, and are rarely closed. However I think that most questions like these, where an answer is a wikipedia quote, are off-topic, according to the FAQ.

I think we should either:

A. Amend the faq to allow these questions.
B. Close them as off-topic as they appear.

What is your opinion?

The FAQ says (bold is mine):

You should only ask practical, answerable questions based on actual problems that you face.

However, there are many questions where the user basically asks us to explain some technology aspect; be it just out of curiosity, or for other reason, but definitely not because there is an actual problem that the person faces.

For example:

• Why is dial up so slow?
• Why can't routers use MAC addresses instead of private/local IP addresses?

These questions often draw lots of votes, both for the question itself and for the answers, and are rarely closed. However I think that most questions like these, where an answer is a wikipedia quote, are off-topic, according to the FAQ.

I think we should either:

A. Amend the faq to allow these questions.
B. Close them as off-topic as they appear.

What is your opinion?

The FAQ says (bold is mine):

You should only ask practical, answerable questions based on actual problems that you face.

However, there are many questions where the user basically asks us to explain some technology aspect; be it just out of curiosity, or for other reason, but definitely not because there is an actual problem that the person faces.

For example:

• Why is dial up so slow?
• Why can't routers use MAC addresses instead of private/local IP addresses?
• What is the “secret” behind the non-volatile effect of the Flash memories?
• Is the transistor count in hardware actual count?

These questions often draw lots of votes, both for the question itself and for the answers, and are rarely closed. However I think that most questions like these, where an answer is a wikipedia quote, are off-topic, according to the FAQ.

I think we should either:

A. Amend the faq to allow these questions.
B. Close them as off-topic as they appear.

What is your opinion?