(I did point this out earlier in the now defunct June tag cleanup post as a comment, but this way I can discuss it better).
Now... as per the June cleanup audit, the freeze tag was uncovered in the audit, with the latest version also mentioning "What's freezing?" as a reason for deletion. This however made me search, and what I found isn't pleasant:
- The tag has a sufficient description as to correctly identify the main subject.
- The tag has been around for deletion ever since January 2013
I also checked what was tagged with the freeze tag and I noticed the similar tag crash being used alongside1. As of now:
- Questions tagged with freeze: 936
- Questions tagged with crash: 854
- Questions tagged with freeze+crash: 71
1 - (so OK, my perception of how many questions were tagged with both was a tad off)
Both tags' descriptions are inherently similar and I don't believe that the subjects that dwell within aren't that different, other than the mental image most people have that freezing equals Something isn't moving and crash equals It's gone now, but it shouldn't.
My 2 cents:
- The are similar enough to be merged. I was originally suggesting that crash being merged to freeze but the other way seems in tune with the idea that a freeze is a subset of a crash.
- They are also meta-tags, as per the blog definition. These tags encompass several different kinds of problems and they are inherently vague. There are already some proper tags (such as bsod or kernel-panic) that are specific enough to stand on their own.
bsod
orkernel-panic
where applicable is a good idea IMO. As you pointed out, those are specific enough to be helpful.