I've just now found this question: Note taking softwares with fast searching?, which is already upvoted and answered. For me it's off topic as looking for software recommendation, should I flag it, or just leave as it is now?
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2Related question: meta.superuser.com/questions/9554/… (many of the answered/upvoted off-topic questions are older ones from when they weren't considered off-topic).– fixer1234Commented Aug 10, 2015 at 20:33
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1What fixer1234 said. Notice that question is five years old (August 2010).– userCommented Aug 12, 2015 at 18:59
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3 Answers
Flag it. Those questions should be removed (which is what I just did).
answered Aug 10, 2015 at 9:01
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6One more possibly useful tidbit gone from the Interwebs... Commented Aug 13, 2015 at 15:07
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5@JoshuaDrake: Not as we see it. Software recommendation questions are not useful - at least not on Super User. Putting a garden hose into a library might be seen as "could be useful to someone", but it's probably not the right place to keep it.– Oliver Salzburg ModCommented Aug 13, 2015 at 15:20
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3You analogy is inept. Migration to Software Recommendations would have preserved the content without flooding the stacks. Commented Aug 13, 2015 at 15:27
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2@JoshuaDrake: We don't migrate old questions. We also don't migrate low quality content. That question fits into both categories. If you feel strongly about preserving a list of note taking applications, post a new question on Software Recommendations.– Oliver Salzburg ModCommented Aug 13, 2015 at 15:31
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2@OliverSalzburg - One mans sweet is another mans bitter. It does not mean you completely eliminate that. I just replied to some old questions today that did not have a clear perfect answer. I was looking for the answer as well, did not find it on SE, but when I found a way, I posted back on the question, so that it might help others. Deleting it "kills" all the effort and work put in by people who wrote quality answers to it.– Alex SCommented Aug 13, 2015 at 19:16
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2@AlexS I fully understand the position, but SE is about putting quality information into the right place on the web. An excellent cooking question is just not right for Super User, no matter how awesome or helpful it is. And, yes, it could be migrated to Seasoned Advice, but sometimes this is simply not an option due to the rules that exist regarding migrations and content itself. If you buy a book on car repairs, you don't want half of the book to be about hair styling - even if the hair styling information is incredibly awesome.– Oliver Salzburg ModCommented Aug 13, 2015 at 19:21
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2@OliverSalzburg - We are not talking about Cooking question or Car Repairs and Hairstyling on SU. Thats way off and most people would not have replied to it or supported it here. There are times SU, SO, SysAdmin, Software Rec.. have overlaps. One might look for an SR and end up scripting something which might be partially SU or partially SO (Scripting on SU can at times be overlapping with programming on SO).– Alex SCommented Aug 13, 2015 at 19:25
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3@AlexS The topic of software recommendations has been discussed to death on meta. If you want to discuss it again anyway, please open a question about it. But I would highly recommend a search for
site:meta.superuser.com software recommendationbefore doing so. Sorry that I can't clear up the frustration here right now.– Oliver Salzburg ModCommented Aug 13, 2015 at 19:28 -
@JoshuaDrake, when you commented "One more possibly useful tidbit gone from the Interwebs", I searched the Internet Archive's WayBack Machine and found Note taking softwares with fast searching?, though few are now likely to ever find it again. This is one reason why I capture anything I find useful on SU or other SE sites in EverNote; I can't be sure it won't be removed at some point in the future. Commented Aug 17, 2015 at 2:03
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Generally speaking, the reasons to close a question and the reasons to delete a question are different. That question is certainly worthy of closure, but I see no reason to delete it. It should be closed so that future askers don't use it as a reason to post more off topic questions, but it's not getting in anyone's way. If it's not actively causing problems, why delete it?– TRiGCommented Aug 20, 2015 at 16:16
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@TRiG They need to be deleted to avoid having the same discussions about this topic over and over again. Off-topic means that it has no place on the site.– Oliver Salzburg ModCommented Aug 21, 2015 at 6:21
If it was voted for and replied to with "relevant" answers there's some good to it.
Life is not perfect. There are times when a post may be equally apt for 2 SE sites.
Better to find a better fit & move the thread to a better location, than to delete & trash the collective efforts of people.
After all. people voted, replied, put in effort while other people flagged it otherwise.
Why burn the effort if we can find a place to fit it?
For example:
Funny thing is, I had no idea Software Recommendations had come up as I primarily remember good ole holy trinity :) And new SE sites are coming up so fast now; whether beta or final.
I had a similar quandry when I posted this few years back in Productivity as Software Rec did not exist and Super User was not a good fit as it was related to better life & schedule management. https://productivity.stackexchange.com/questions/8630/how-do-i-maintain-my-calendar-with-times-belonging-to-different-time-zones
PS: I'd be curious to know what would be the ideal place to post it now?
I still do not have a conclusive answer.
For the posted link:
But, given that now there is "Software Recommendations" Site on stack exchange in addition to Super User it should ideally be moved there.
PS: I am wondering if this can be brought to the light of Admins/ Mods and be made policy.
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2Can't move a question to a beta site. Software recommendations is still in beta Commented Aug 11, 2015 at 14:42
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1@CanadianLuke - That's exactly what happened to a question of mine :) So, what should have been done? And what should I do?– Alex SCommented Aug 11, 2015 at 14:54
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Ask on the target site, expect it to close here as well. That's really all you could do Commented Aug 11, 2015 at 15:01
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Not referring to the link posted, I posted a question on SU and someone pushed it to Software Rec.– Alex SCommented Aug 11, 2015 at 15:08
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+ for "Better to find a better fit & move the thread to a better location, than to delete & trash the collective efforts of people." Commented Aug 13, 2015 at 15:08
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@JoshuaDrake - Thanks for the support Drake. I'll bold that part out :) PS: I am wondering if this can be brought to the light of Admins/ Mods and be made policy. After all. people replied, put in effort while other people flagged it otherwise. Why burn the effort if we can find a place to fit it?– Alex SCommented Aug 13, 2015 at 19:03
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By being here it is brought to their attention. Playing Devil's Advocate: 1. There may be no path to migrate to Software Recommendations. 2. In general recommendation requests are of low long term value. (See my answer on Meta here meta.stackexchange.com/a/131432/183443). As it is the community will see it and hopefully a migration path can be found in the future. Commented Aug 13, 2015 at 22:24
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Your thinking is good but doesn't reflect the process. An upvoted and answered question isn't deleted by closure. Closure just prevents new answers from being posted. Commented Aug 23, 2015 at 3:20
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If someone posts completely off topic. E.g. Beauty tips in Super User, then flag it, delete it. If it is on the border; SE, So, & computer/ tech subjects can end up in either depending on flavor.. Mods should move it.– Alex SCommented Aug 23, 2015 at 6:14
Scope and topicness of Super User (or any Stack Exchange Q&A) is not superseded by votes, comments and/or answers on the specific posts. You could ask a godly question about how to build a spacecraft, that just happened to fly under the radar and wasn't closed timely, and that gets a detailed answer with all pointers and possible gotchas, yet that doesn't mean that it could not be closed and deleted.
So, yes, flag them or bring them to meta/chat if you believe it wouldn't get enough traction. I don't feel sad for the content, because it shouldn't exist here in the first place.
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I never opposed any of what you said. Scope, topicness etc. I feel if a moderator feels IF it FITS BETTER elsewhere, they can move it. Simple. There are lot of times questions can end up being haldway between SU/ SO/ SA– Alex SCommented Aug 18, 2015 at 12:24
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@AlexS I'm not sure why are you saying that I opposed anything...– BraiamCommented Aug 18, 2015 at 16:58
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I am not saying you opposed. I agree with most things you said.– Alex SCommented Aug 18, 2015 at 18:09