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StackOverflow For Any Topic

Posted by kdawson on from the let-a-thousand-faqs-bloom dept.

RobinH writes "StackOverflow, the successful question-and-answer website for programmers, is now over a year old and its top user has just passed 100,000 reputation points. Now one of the creators of StackOverflow, Joel Spolsky, and his company Fog Creek, are developing a software-as-a-service form of the StackOverflow engine called StackExchange to support any topic you want. The software is currently in private beta, but the first few beta sites have surfaced. Topics include business travel, the home, parenthood, the environment, finance, and iPhone game development."

5 of 191 comments (clear)

  1. Joel, uhg.. by RingDev · · Score: 5, Insightful

    While I wholey appreciate the community and efforts of people involved in StackOverflow, I believe that Joel is subject to entirely too much fanfair and hero worship. I'd line him up right next to Dvorak in the grouping of "Right about as often as the sun shines on my dog's ass."

    -Rick

    --
    "Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
  2. They tried this with Ask Slashdot... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Anyone remember the short lived Ask Slashdot section on sex? No one had any answers, so they had to shut it down.

  3. How very random. by stevey · · Score: 5, Funny

    It is good to know that the parenting forum is asking the most important questions.

  4. Re:A compelling need? by jjohnson · · Score: 5, Funny

    The posters at Stack Overflow know what they're talking about.

    --
    Anyone who loves or hates any language, platform, or manufacturer, doesn't know what they're talking about.
  5. Re:The Karma-Whoring Generation by Blackeagle_Falcon · · Score: 5, Informative

    But, hey! What happens when StackOverflow folds (which it will, eventually)?

    Then, suddenly, all the knowledge contracts and contracts to a single point until it goes "POOF!" - nada, zero.

    Actually, all the content on StackOverflow is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-Wiki license. They make monthly dumps of the entire question and answer database available. If SO ever folds, it would be quite easy to use the data dump to put up a new site with all the accumulated knowledge