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Below are a few thoughts that I've had relating to a few points in the FAQ that need to be cleaned up by the site administration to prevent confusion when people move between Stack Exchange sites (especially between StackOverflow, ServerFault, and SuperUser).


The use of "power user" is confusing and should be clarified. I don't feel that "power user" encompasses enough people. There are plenty of people who use a computer on a regular basis and simply want to become more efficient. To me, these aren't "power users"; a true power user would be someone who you see using the command-line all the time, has automation routines for recurring tasks, and is comfortable to open the registry of a Windows OS and start hacking away. I think that the phrase "enthusiast" is sufficient for the scope and would bring SuperUser more in line with StackOverflow, which is designed for the professional programmer as well as the hobbyist.


The descriptions of what StackOverflow and ServerFault are need work. "Server" has multiple meanings, depending on if you are talking to a system administrator/network administrator or a computer scientist/software engineer. Programming also has different meanings - writing automation scripts might be appropriate on SuperUser or ServerFault and not StackOverflow, depending on the exact context of the question.


As new Stack Exchange sites open, I feel that it is important to potentially develop partnerships with them to offset some loads. A particular Stack Exchange that covers a subset of system administration/network administration/IT topics should be linked to in the official FAQ to ensure that people can get to the best possible venue to answer their questions. The topicality of each SE that is linked to should be described clearly (without ambiguity), but concisely.


StackOverflow Meta Post

ServerFault Meta Post

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    Do you have a suggestion of your own? I do agree we need formal links with our new sister-sites, but we'll have to wait for them to get out of beta
    – Ivo Flipse Mod
    Commented Jul 27, 2010 at 7:49
  • A suggestion for links to other Stack Exchanges? The only one that's open now that really relates to Super User is the Electronic Gadgets SE. But I've seen some proposals that might shake out to be interesting. Commented Jul 27, 2010 at 10:04
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    Uh Web Apps? If there's any topic that had discussion on being off-topic, it would be them
    – Ivo Flipse Mod
    Commented Jul 27, 2010 at 11:28
  • Forgot about that...and I browse and post on Web Apps. :P Commented Jul 27, 2010 at 21:24

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  • Super User's public is, by FAQ:

Super User is for computer enthusiasts and power users.

The "and" includes both. Regular computer users, and power users. Doesn't mean you can't ask simple questions when you have such description, in my opinion.

  • Super User's scope is:

If you have a question about …

  • computer hardware
  • computer software

and it is not about …

  • videogames or consoles
  • websites or web services like Facebook, Twitter, and WordPress
  • electronic devices, media players, cell phones or smart phones, except insofar as they interface with your computer
  • a shopping or buying recommendation

It's probably the most specific of all sites, so far (not that this is an especially good thing). What do you suggest to improve it?

About gray areas, usually, this is a "case by case" evaluation. Some scripting questions can be answered on SU, some on SO, some on SF. It depends on what the user wants to do with them, but in general, I don't see an issue with them. Such grey area doesn't mean we have to have a clear limit, they can exist on all sites.

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