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As you may know, Stack Overflow in Portuguese is a huge success. Now, it is time to expand the idea and get our hands at the Super User in Portuguese, right now on Area 51.

Stack Exchange team has a fair concern about foreign languages sites proliferation. We can't mirror every successful site in English on Stack Exchange network. But between those that we can, indeed the obvious choice for a new proposal is the Super User. I don't know if and when SE will be able to launch this site but we can try.

The proposal was created on February 18th and it just started the commitment phase on February 25th. Contrary to typical Area 51 site proposals that may take up to a year in the definition phase, it is evolving blazing fast, and it moved to commitment phase after staying only 7 days in the definition phase (in fact, a few hours less than 7 days). This shows that the proposal have a lot of momentum and that many people are interested. I am sure that it will be a very successful site! Update: As a confirmation of that, in the first six days on the commitment phase, it already reached and passed 60% of commitment - We are going to reach beta soon!

BTW, to avoid yet another discussion about if StackExchange should or not launch non-English sites, I should tell that this was already discussed ad nauseam elsewhere many times and that StackExchange is very convinced that they should, furthermore the "everybody should speak English" and the "this will lead to community fragmentation" fallacies already were debunked long time ago. For the particular case of Super User, it's obvious that normal users don't have to be fluent in English to use computer devices, to have questions about them and to have the will to share answers on them. So, we are moving to create Super User em Português.

See more details in the discussion topic on Area 51 (in English) or in the discussion topic on the meta of StackOverflow em português (in Portuguese).

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  • 1
    I for one have no arguments for or against this. If your site does get out of beta, I do wonder a few things 1) How do us non Portuguese speaking SU mods and high ranking users know when a question ought to be punted over to your site? We won't be able to know anything past "Google says its portugese" 2) Will you guys be adopting community best practices from SU or branching off on its own?
    – Journeyman Geek Mod
    Feb 25, 2015 at 10:10
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    @JourneymanGeek About your item 2, I can't speak for others and most of the organizational details can only be decided in early beta. But taking StackOverflow in Portuguese as an example, the practices will be heavily inspired in SU, but it is likely that there will be some important differences. For the item 1, this is very rarely of any concern in practice. Feb 25, 2015 at 10:27
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    @JourneymanGeek 1) probably who speaks portuguese here can help flagging it. 2) The SE team doesn't want create several portuguese sites so SUpt is more broad. It's SU+SF+WebApps+Ubuntu+U&L+Apple+Android. Everything about software and hardware is on there. Actually evething is welcome seems to be new slogan for SE. My English is poor but this can help understand SUpt: discuss.area51.stackexchange.com/questions/19807/… I know, is too broad, but we need to start with this scope and see what happen.
    – Maniero
    Feb 25, 2015 at 10:32
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    @Raystafarian In fact we expect that SU-Portuguese to eventually became larger than SO-Portuguese, since its scope is much more closer to end users. Further, its proposed current scope is somewhat larger than SU-English exactly because we can't fragment it in much smaller sites, so things that are on-topic on ServerFault, AskDifferent, AskUbuntu, etc are expected to be on-topic on SU-Portuguese. But anyway, even if your proportion does hold and we get 2K to 4K users with something like 200 avid users, that would still be nice. Feb 25, 2015 at 16:04
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    "Super User em Português" souns quite weird to me. Why not "super usuário em português", or just "super usuário"? Feb 25, 2015 at 17:12
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    @Victor - If you are trying to come up with a Portuguese website to cover all those areas. Should it really be called Superuser instead of something else? It would be like putting programmers.stackexchange.com/ questions on Stackoverflow
    – Ramhound
    Feb 25, 2015 at 17:13
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    Probably for the same reason the we have "StackOverflow em Português", and not "Estouro de Pilha". As bigown sad, it's the brand.
    – Math
    Feb 25, 2015 at 17:17
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    @Ramhound Programmers topics is on-topic on SOpt. We are more inclusive and we are happier because this :) I don't understand how Programmers is off at SOen. And I was moderator on Programmers.
    – Maniero
    Feb 25, 2015 at 17:21
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    @bigown - Lets be honest. I don't think anyone knows the reason why a question on Programmers isn't on topic at SO.
    – Ramhound
    Feb 25, 2015 at 17:22
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    @bigown - I admit. I used a bad example. I think my point is why will this new localized site be called Superuser if its includes all the popular main but smaller websites?
    – Ramhound
    Feb 25, 2015 at 17:36
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    @Ramhound But I understood the intention. Why not call it SuperUser? All those sites exist primarily for users ("normal" and professional users). SOpt includes P.SE, DBA (almost), TCS, Development for WP, Joomla, etc., scripting, CR, QA, Software security, and more. And it works very well.
    – Maniero
    Feb 25, 2015 at 17:43
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    I agree with @Ramhound, I'm not sure why something off-topic on SU would be on-topic at SU-P when they are both "SU" - it may become confusing to new(er) users and we already have enough confusion about on- vs off-topic. I understand the branding aspect, but I think that's something that may need to be sorted out by SE as a whole. Feb 28, 2015 at 14:24
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    @Raystafarian SU!=SUpt as well SO!=SOpt. Like in the SOpt we define our rules. After all, are the users that define the on-topic and off-topic? Right?
    – Jorge B.
    Mar 4, 2015 at 9:11
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    @Ramhound, I really don't understand what you're trying to complain, it's quite simple, questions that are off-topic on SU, will be on-topic in SUpt because we (portuguese speakers community for StackExchange sites) doesn't have another sites that cover other subjects. Considering this, I can't see any trouble or confusion to the newcomers.
    – ptkato
    Mar 4, 2015 at 16:53
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    @Patrick - I feel my comments are pretty clear.
    – Ramhound
    Mar 4, 2015 at 16:56

2 Answers 2

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Fun fact: when I first wanted to ask a programming question on Stack Exchange, I signed up for Programmers, assuming that was the right place. I posted my question (10k+ on programmers only), and then figured out it wasn't the right place. 6 minutes later, I reposted my question on Stack Overflow and deleted it from Programmer's.

Fast forward a year. I wanted to ask an Excel question only to end up absolutely boggled by where I should be posting it because there is considerable overlap between SO and SU on the issue.

Multiple sites can be confusing to new people (and even semi-experienced ones).

On Stack Overflow in Japanese questions that would be on Super User are welcomed and get good reception and good answers. It seems to be working well enough, and the Japanese version of me is hopefully grateful that they don't have questions about where they're supposed to be asking, and can focus on the quality of their question instead.

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    I think that nobody wants to open the gates for non-technical users to ask all kinds of computer questions on StackOverflow. The first questions may be advanced and interesting for all, but as soon as they show up on search engines, people will ask all kinds of things there.
    – user33758
    Mar 4, 2015 at 9:30
  • @screener a good question is a good question -- who cares how technical the asker is? (full disclosure: I am not a programmer and have 4k rep on SO)
    – jmac
    Mar 4, 2015 at 9:32
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    I mean that a lot of people coming from search engines would create accounts thinking that's a general computer help forum and ask "bad" questions, just to have them deleted afterwards.
    – user33758
    Mar 4, 2015 at 9:33
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Since some discussion about "on-topicness overlap" around Portuguese StackOverflow (SOpt) and Portuguese Super User (SUpt) arised, I decided to take the 40 example questions from the definition phase of SUpt on area 51 and analyse their on-topicness on SOpt:

Lets start with those 24 questions:

  1. Como criar quotas para contas do samba no Ubuntu? (How to create samba's quotas in Ubuntu?)
  2. Como reinjetar um pendrive no Windows sem precisar tirar e colocar fisicamente na porta USB? (How to reinject the pendrive on Windows without needing to physically take it and put it again on the USB port?)
  3. Como exportar mensagens do GMail? (How to exposrt GMail's messages?)
  4. O que significam os barulhos feitos durante a conexão discada? (What do means the noises made during a dialed connection?)
  5. Como acessar as partições do Linux pelo Windows? (How to access different Linux' partitions on Windows?)
  6. Como capturar pacotes de rede com o Wireshark no Windows em conexões 3G? (How to capture networking packets on 3G connections on Windows using Wireshark?)
  7. Existe algum problema em utilizar memórias RAM que trabalham em frequências diferentes? (There is some problem in using RAM memories that works on different frequencies?)
  8. Contratei dois provedores de internet, que tipo de aparelho preciso para ligá-los em paralelo? (balanceamento de carga ou failover) (I contracted two internet service providers, which device can I use to interconnect then in parallel? (loadbalancing and failover))
  9. Como configurar meu roteador Xing-Link modelo XL-456? (How to configure my Xing-Link router model XL-456?)
  10. É realmente necessário "ejetar" um pen-drive conectado à uma porta USB? (It is really necessary to "eject" an pen-drive connect to an USB port?)
  11. Comprei um HD externo com USB 3.0 mas meu notebook só tem USB 2.0. Tem como eu fazer um upgrade do meu USB para poder usufruir de velocidades maiores? (I buyed an external HD with USB 3.0, but my notebook only have USB 2.0 ports. Is it possible to upgrade my USB to enjoy greater speeds?)
  12. Quais as vantagens de ainda usar um HDD quando o SSD apresenta tantas vantagens? (Which advantages there is on using HDD when SSD presents so many advantages?)
  13. Como quebrar ou remover a senha do setup da BIOS? (How to break or remove the BIOS setup password?)
  14. O que acontece detalhadamente numa desfragmentação de disco rígido? (What happens, in detail, when a hard disk is being defragmented?)
  15. Faz sentido, no windows, ter um partição exclusiva para a swap? (Does it makes sense, in windows, to have an exclusive partition for swapping?)
  16. A proteção de tela em computadores tem alguma funcionalidade ou é apenas estética? (Does the computers' screensaver have some fuctionality or it is just for stetics?)
  17. Como fazer que o Windows 8 entre direto na área de trabalho ao iniciar? (How to make Windows 8 directly go to the desktop on startup?)
  18. Como eu posso mudar a hora de 12h para 24h do meu ubuntu server 14.04.1 LTS? (How can I change the time from 12h to 24h on my ubuntu server 12.04.1 LTS?)
  19. Como ligar dois computadores em rede diretamente, sem roteador nem switch? (How to connect two computers on a network direct, without a router nor a switch?)
  20. Para quê serve a tecla "Scroll Lock" do meu teclado? Já liguei e desliguei ela várias vezes e nunca notei a menor diferença. (What is the purpose of the "Scroll Lock" key on my keyboard? I already turned it on and off many times and I never perceived any difference.)
  21. Meu teclado Apple molhou e parou de funcionar. Isso tem conserto? (My Apple keyboard got wet and stopped working? Is this fixable?)
  22. Para que serve o modo de segurança no Windows? (What is the purpose of the safe mode on Windows?)
  23. Por quê o padrão do teclado é QWERTY? Não seria melhor se fosse em ordem alfabética? (Why the keyboard standard is QWERTY? Wouldn't it be better if it was on alphabetic order?)
  24. Como aplicar as permissões de pasta a um pendrive, para não permiti-lo receber arquivos? (How to apply folder permissions to a pendrive to disallow it to receive files?)

I believe that all those questions would be quickly closed as off-topic on SOpt if someone posted them there.

Now lets see more 11 questions:

  1. Por que pesquisar um termo no Google leva menos tempo que pesquisar um arquivo no computador? (Why searching for a term on Google takes less time than searching a file in the computer?)
  2. Qual serviço no Windows é equivalente ao Cron do Linux? (Which windows service is equivalent to Linux' Cron?)
  3. Como configurar o sudo para não pedir senha ao ser executado? (How to configure sudo to not ask a password to be executed?)
  4. Como listar informações de Hardware em DOS? (How to list Hardware informations on DOS?)
  5. Quais são as principais diferenças entre o prompt de comando e o powershell no Windows? (What are the main differences between the command prompt and the powershell on Windows?)
  6. Como definir o endereço do servidor DNS no Ubuntu? (How to define a DNS server address on Ubuntu?)
  7. Como configurar e como executar scripts num computador remoto com Powershell? (How to configure and execute scripts on a remote computer using Powershell?)
  8. Qual comando eu uso para voltar a permissão de usuário básico no Linux após ter privilégio de root com o comando 'sudo su'? (What is the command that I may use to rollback to basic permissions on Linux after getting root privileges by using the command 'sudo su'?)
  9. Qual é o equivalente do sudo no Windows? (What is the equivalent of sudo on Windows?)
  10. Por que não posso criar uma pasta com o nome "con" no windows? (Why I can't create a folder named "con" on windows?)
  11. É possível adicionar um comando próprio ao menu de contexto do Windows Explorer? (Is it possible to add my own customized command to the Windows Explorer context menu?)

In my opinion, those 11 questions might be either on-topic or off-topic on SOpt depending on further details likely to be present on the question body. But even if considered on-topic, they would be very uncommon and untypical outliers between our questions. They are borderline cases.

Ok, now the last 5 questions:

  1. Como funciona a compactação de um arquivo zip? (How do the zip file compactation works?)
  2. Por que DNS failover não é recomendado? (Why DNS failover is not recommended?)
  3. O que são e para que servem as variáveis de ambiente de um sistema operacional? (What is and what are the purpose of the environment variables of an operational system?)
  4. Como posso baixar arquivos da internet pelo prompt de comando do Windows similar ao wget? (How can I download files from the internet using Windows command prompt similarly to wget?)
  5. Porque PNG é um formato melhor que JPG? (Why is PNG a better format than JPG?)

I think that those 5 questions are clearly on-topic on SOpt. But even then, I think that none of them is something like our typical questions. So, it is pretty clear that SUpt is not the same as SOpt.

By the way, lets see this closed as off-topic question on SOpt: https://pt.stackoverflow.com/questions/52351/uso-o-skype-significa-que-tenho-uma-porta-aberta its title translated to English would be "I am using Skype, does this means that I have an open port?" - It is a real question that was closed as off-topic because it is not within the scope of the site. Users posted comments inviting the OP to join the SUpt proposal, as this would be a nice question on SUpt.

But what would happen if we simply enlarged the scope of SOpt? In my humble opinion, this would discharacterize and defocus the SOpt site. I think that doing this would be harmful, and I know of a lot of people who thinks the same. So what we are really lacking is a new Super User em português site.

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