How broad is too broad?

RubberDuck

Aug 7, 2015 07:38

Yes, the question was a bit broad, but it was intentionally a bit broad. If it was any more specific it would have belonged on SO instead of here. It received two very good answers, so how bad could it be?

RubberDuck

Aug 7, 2015 08:12

This is a very real and specific problem that I've faced in collaborating with others on an OSS project. If I made the question more specific by mentioning the OS, IDE, dependencies, etc., it would be a question for StackOverflow instead of OpenSource. So, yes, the question is a bit broad, but not so broad as to be unanswerable. In fact, I not only for the exact answer I was looking for, but another very good answer on top of it. There are precedents for broad questions on SE. Programmers, Workplace, and Code Review all regularly receive questions that are "too broad" for other sites. — RubberDuck 48 secs ago

ArtOfCode

Aug 7, 2015 08:47

@RubberDuck Comments are appropriate for discussing the broadness of an individual question. Site scope is a different matter, and should indeed be taken to Meta.

RubberDuck

@ArtOfCode I'm completely agreed. Either way, discussions don't belong in the comments.

ArtOfCode

@Rubber Discussions on the closeability (i.e. broadness etc) of a specific question are OK in the comments on that question, as long as the discussion doesn't get massively long and out of hand.

RubberDuck

cough

ArtOfCode

Would you like a cough sweet?

RubberDuck

You mean like it just did? Honestly, this early in a beta, a discussion like this about a specific question very much is a discussion about site scope though.

Lol. Why, that's kind of you. =;)-

ArtOfCode

Aug 7, 2015 08:53

8 comments isn't that long. Put it another way: I wouldn't migrate the conversation to chat, if someone flagged it as such.

RubberDuck

Hmm. I would if it was me, but fair enough.

ArtOfCode

Let's see: nobody's suggesting it's off-topic, just that it's too broad

Incidentally, I don't think it is

We've got a number of other questions of similar wide scope that we've answered well.

RubberDuck

I was about to ask you opinion on it. Thanks.

It's a nice little site you've all got here. It's got potential.

ArtOfCode

I actually think we can deal with broader questions than many other sites

RubberDuck

I think so too, but I spend my time on Code Review, and the questions are admittedly broad there.

ArtOfCode

Aug 7, 2015 09:01

Aye, true.

RubberDuck

So, I might be biased, but I think the general development Qs here could get away with being pretty broad.

There's already Programmers & SO for the specifics of it. I think we can get away with being a bit more general here.

ArtOfCode

As long as they demonstrably have something to do with specifically open source development, yes

Yours does, because that's unlikely to be a problem you come across in much of proprietary development.

RubberDuck

Yeah, honestly it was something that never crossed my mind until it happened to me.

Professionally, you take some things for granted that you just can't with OSS.

ArtOfCode

Which is both a good and a bad thing

RubberDuck

Yeah. It really is.

Gtg, but thanks for the chat.

Jenna

Aug 7, 2015 09:13

@ArtOfCode Really? @RubberDuck's question is horrible.

RubberDuck

Idk. Got some pretty good answers IMO.

ArtOfCode

@Jenna ...care to elaborate? If we don't know why, we can't do anything about it.

RubberDuck

I'd like to hear your reasoning though. Will check back for it when I get a chance.

Jenna

Clearly, if he can't deal with simple IDE changes, he's not exactly a good OSS dev. That's what VCS is there for.

ArtOfCode

...and insulting people is not what chat is here for. Please don't.

RubberDuck

Aug 7, 2015 09:17

Straw man argument.

ArtOfCode

Moreover, that still doesn't explain problems with the actual question. If you want it closed, VTC or FTC.

@RubberDuck Straw man?

RubberDuck

Attacking the person instead of the argument (question in this case).

ArtOfCode

Ah, I see. Not a name I've heard before.

RubberDuck

Which does hurt a bit by the way, my project is actually fairly successful and I'm really not a bad dev. It's just an issue that I never faced until I got my feet wet in OSS development.

ArtOfCode

...wow

We'll not be having any of that...

RubberDuck

Aug 7, 2015 09:20

Yeah...

ArtOfCode

30 minute suspension. Jenna, personal attacks aren't ever acceptable.

RubberDuck

Anyway... Really do have to go, but I'd still love to hear an actual argument as to why the question is so "awful".

ArtOfCode

@RubberDuck I'm still waiting to hear one too :) See you later on. We might have found one by then.

RubberDuck

Cool. See ya around. I think I'll be checking in on this beta more often.

ArtOfCode

Good, I'm glad we're getting new users in :)

Free Radical

Aug 7, 2015 09:23

I think the problem with the question is that there was so few specifics, so it was really hard understanding what you wanted. For instance, your Git-fu may already be superb (and then my answer would be no use to you).

It was lucky that Mr. Congusbongus was able to figure out what type of tools you were looking for, but we really need to have specifics in the question to be able to write good answers.

ArtOfCode

I've never actually come across this problem, so I can't comment on what VCS does for you. It's just worked for me.

Free Radical

I mange a project with about 100 000 users and 70+ developers, all over the world. No way to get anyone to share IDE, platform or development environment. Switching to Git from Subversion was a life saver,

ArtOfCode

@FreeRadical That makes sense. What project?

Free Radical

Linking to it would reveal my identity. I don't want my persona here associated with the role I play in the free software community.

ArtOfCode

Hmmm... nope, can't work it out. Want to drop it in a message and delete it, so only I see it - given that I've got the mod agreement on personally identifying info to follow?

I can purge the history after, too.

I'd love to know that we've got a true expert around :)

Free Radical

Aug 7, 2015 09:34

Sorry. I don't believe that information posted on the web can be purged or deleted - ever.

ArtOfCode

Fair enough, though I'd argue the point

Free Radical

@ArtOfCode In terms of user base and contributors, what's the largest free software project you've managed?

ArtOfCode

@FreeRadical Basically nothing. Erm. User base I had one with a good couple hundred, a plugin for a Minecraft server. Never got any contributors on it though.

I contribute to but don't manage ProgramFOX's SE-Chatbot

Free Radical

Getting users is the first step for getting contributors. When people use your project, they want to adapt it. It is actually harder to get volunteer contributors to follow standards and guidelines, than it is to get them to sign up.

ArtOfCode

That gives me an idea for a question... let's see if I can phrase this right

0

Q: How can I convert users to contributors?

I run a project with a decently-sized userbase - a couple of hundred people, perhaps. It's regularly used by all users, and I've made it clear who developed it, where it can be found, and that it's free software. However, I'm currently the only developer and contributor. With the exception of so...

Free Radical

Aug 7, 2015 09:45

Nice to see something that isn't about licenses.

ArtOfCode

That's what I was thinking. If it was licensing, I wouldn't have bothered...

Free Radical

OK, there is work to be done. Happy hacking.

Jenna

Aug 7, 2015 10:09

Suspension's a bit harsh.

curiousdannii

Aug 7, 2015 10:36

@RubberDuck All votes are anonymous. Please don't be rude and accuse anyone of downvoting.

@RubberDuck This doesn't make any sense at all. This site is not some kind of less broad alternative to SO - the two sites have very different purposes. Adding more details to any question on this site would not mean that the question automatically belongs on SO

@ArtOfCode And all I said initially was that I thought it might be a bit too broad and that more detail would help! I don't understand the tone of RubberDuck's response

@RubberDuck Bad questions (not that I think yours is bad, I just think it's too broad!) often get much better answers than they deserve. You have to judge questions on their own merit, and not by their answers

RubberDuck

Discussion between curiousdannii and …

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ArtOfCode

@curiousdannii I understand that, I just don't agree :)

RubberDuck

Will be back.

ArtOfCode

@curiousdannii Votes are anonymous, but be aware that moderators can at least have a good guess at who they're from - though we won't be telling anyone.

curiousdannii

@RubberDuck That's not a straw man argument, that's yourlogicalfallacyis.com/ad-hominem

yourlogicalfallacyis.com/strawman strawman argument: "You misrepresented someone's argument to make it easier to attack."

RubberDuck

Aug 7, 2015 11:03

@curiousdannii I apologize for that. The DV came shortly after your response comment on meta. I perhaps assumed incorrectly.

So, my question to you and @FreeRadical is "What details would you have liked to have seen?"

I mean, this is also a fairly broad question opensource.stackexchange.com/questions/1503/…

ArtOfCode

I'd certainly agree there

RubberDuck

So, I think I'll book mark some conversations and post a meta when I get a chance.

> How broad is too broad?

Discussion between curiousdannii and …

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