Can someone explain with words, how is this question:
NFS Server/Client administration of multiple machines through a GUI
... off-topic from SuperUser?
Just to clearly point out that I've read the FAQ:
What topics can I ask about here? - Help Center - Super User
Super User is for computer enthusiasts and power users. If you have a question about …
computer hardware,
Nope, not for computer hardware, so probably off topic?
computer software, or
Yes, about computer software, so on topic?
personal and home computer networking
Yes, it was for home computer networking, so on topic?
and it is not about …
programming and software development,
I didn't ask how to program such an application, I asked for already existing application, so on topic?
video games or consoles,
Nope, so on topic?
websites or web services like Facebook, Twitter, and WordPress,
Nope - unless you consider anything dealing with a "network" to be a "website", which if you're extremely cynical, you might.. So on topic here?
electronic devices, media players, cell phones or smart phones, except insofar as they interface with your computer,
Nope - however, a "computer" is an "electronic device", so a cynical reviewer could consider every question on SuperUser "off topic", hehe :)
issues specific to corporate IT support and networks,
Nope - home usage, so on topic?
asking for a shopping or product recommendation,
I'm asking about a GUI program to manage a networking file system for Linux, which as hopefully known, is free and open source, so no "shopping" involved. However, a cynical reviewer might consider mentioning any piece of software that runs on a computer a "product recommendation" - thus any question on SuperUser that is not expressed in terms of pure mathematical formulae would be off topic :)
What types of questions should I avoid asking? - Help Center - Super User
First, make sure that your question is on-topic for this site.
I think I did above; although as mentioned above, any mention of "electronic devices" and "product recommendations" is a qualifier for off-topic - so I wouldn't really know; which is why I'm asking.
You should only ask practical, answerable questions based on actual problems that you face. Chatty, open-ended questions diminish the usefulness of our site and push other questions off the front page.
There either is a GUI tool that can handle both server and client NFS administration, or not. If not, I do not expect an answer (apart from maybe "No such tool at the moment" - but I don't expect downvotes either). I don't see how that would qualify for "chatty, open-ended questions". I was looking, and I could find only one, server-side only, GUI tool which I referenced, so it's not like I was lazy or anything.
Your questions should be reasonably scoped. If you can imagine an entire book that answers your question, you’re asking too much.
No I cannot imagine a whole book - as I said; there either is a GUI tool of the kind I'm looking for, or there isn't.
If your motivation for asking the question is “I would like to participate in a discussion about ______”, then you should not be asking here. However, if your motivation is “I would like others to explain ______ to me”, then you are probably OK. (Discussions are of course welcome in our real time web chat.)
I cannot see how asking about an existence of a GUI tool would be inviting to participate in a discussion. Then again, I can always rephrase the same question as: "I would like others to explain how to manage both server and client aspects of NFS shares with a single GUI tool"; which will again boil down to: there either is a GUI tool of the kind I'm looking for, or there isn't.
To prevent your question from being flagged and possibly removed, avoid asking subjective questions where …
every answer is equally valid: “What’s your favorite ______?”
I believe I didn't ask about favorite choices.
your answer is provided along with the question, and you expect more answers: “I use ______ for ______, what do you use?”
Nope, never seen a tool of the kind I'm looking for, which is why I was asking in the first place.
there is no actual problem to be solved: “I’m curious if other people feel like I do.”
I'm totally not curious about other people's feelings - I just want to know if there is a GUI tool that manages client and server side of NFS sharing; and if so, which one it is.
you are asking an open-ended, hypothetical question: “What if ______ happened?”
I don't think I did - although, if I was cynical, I could always rephrase as: "What if a GUI tool that can manage both server and client side of NFS shares existed?"
your question is just a rant in disguise: “______ sucks, am I right?”
I don't think I had any ranty aspects in my question - apart from a slight disappointment that such a GUI tool doesn't exist, or if it does, it cannot be tracked down with a moderately thorough search. Again, if I was cynical, I could always reconstruct the meaning of my question to be: "Managing NFS shares through the terminal sucks, am I right? Better to use a GUI tool, no?"
So, taking the above into account- as far as I can see, my question was on topic for SuperUser. But since the community insisted it wasn't I (and probably others), would be greatly appreciate an explanation of where did I go wrong in reading the FAQ (taking into account that there are enough possibilities to take pieces of the FAQ cynically, and thus declare any and all questions on SuperUser off-topic).
