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Some questions like "Dualboot some GNU/Linux distribution (mostly Ubuntu) with Windows 7/8" are being asked more than five times a day and are broad in their nature, so I start to think about marking them as duplicate, but then have some specific "subquestions" in it like "with this special laptop" or "this special partition layout" so that an answer won't be useful for anyone other than the one asking it and a broad answer or similar answer won't help the one asking it because of their technical knowledge often being not good enough to apply a similar answer to their case.

So how should I deal with those kind of questions? Mark them as duplicate, try to link some reference material they can read or leave the answers as they are in a state they won't likely get an answer? And how could it be prevented that those questions keep reoccuring all the time?

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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Sounds like it's time for a !

The purpose of a Community FAQ is to provide a comprehensive, detailed, generic canonical post on a frequently asked subject. Check out other questions in this tag for examples.

I think a "how to dual-boot linux and Windows" post, with a basic how-to and some more detailed info about specific common edge cases would be a good starting point. We can then ask people to try that first, and then ask if they can't figure that out for some reason.

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  • So what exactly should I do? Ask a question and mark it as "community-faq" or tag an existing question as such or what else?
    – FSMaxB
    May 23, 2013 at 16:58
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    @FSMaxB if you can find a good existing question to adopt and adapt, then go for it. If not, then it's fine to start a new one - you can use the self-answer feature.
    – nhinkle
    May 23, 2013 at 17:06
  • I don't think I could write a guide myself meeting the quality standards needed and I can't find any existing answer either. Would you consider it a good idea to ask the question for a general guide and add a bounty? (I consider sacrificing 100 of my reputation)
    – FSMaxB
    May 23, 2013 at 17:23
  • @FSMaxB then ask the question, but in a manner that would be general for everyone. Then let someone else put up a great answer.
    – James Mertz
    May 23, 2013 at 19:23
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    I'd go with @KronoS's recommendation. Drop a link here when you're done - I'll put a bounty on it; I've got plenty of rep to burn :)
    – nhinkle
    May 23, 2013 at 19:25
  • @nhinkle you're like the santa of bounty rep
    – James Mertz
    May 23, 2013 at 19:26
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    @KronoS once I hit 20k, my plan is to never go above 25k... just keep giving bounties. There's no privileges after 20k (and privileges are a moot point if you have a diamond anyways), so why not?
    – nhinkle
    May 23, 2013 at 19:38
  • @nhinkle superuser.com/questions/599231/… I hope I asked this question the right way!
    – FSMaxB
    May 23, 2013 at 21:08
  • IMO this is going to require pages and pages of documentation, duplicating much of what's already out there and available on the different distro sites/wikis. Also much of the UEFI/Secure Boot stuff is still very much in flux. Collecting it all in one place is not a bad idea if properly done (shouldn't become a complicated mess or a huge dump that no-one can make head or tail of), but is a question on the site the best way to do this? Perhaps a series of SU blog posts by experts dedicated to one topic each would be better when it comes to tackling something like this?
    – Karan
    May 23, 2013 at 22:29
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    @KronoS superuser.com/users/4377/sathya?tab=bounties&sort=offered :P
    – Sathyajith Bhat Mod
    May 26, 2013 at 6:10
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    @Sathya I CHALLENGE YOU TO A BOUNTY DUEL!
    – nhinkle
    May 26, 2013 at 6:24
  • @Karan I think it's appropriate as a question/answer, but it doesn't have to be all in one document. I think it's OK to put a general idea for each of the common cases, and then link to more specific posts that probably already exist.
    – nhinkle
    May 26, 2013 at 6:25

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