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Network Engineering Q&A Site Launched

Posted by samzenpus on from the finding-answers dept.

Hamburg writes "Stack Exchange launched a new site for network engineers. It's in question and answer style, content is tagged for filtering and subscribing to topics. A voting system supports quality of posts, leading to so called reputation scores which determine moderation capabilities of the users. It's now 18 days in beta, at this early stage users decide which way it will go, from quality and kind of contributions up to the future design of the site. People there discuss mainly professional subjects such as the best dual-provider design for the enterprise, when to choose fiber instead of copper cabling, and efficient ways for troubleshooting switching loops."

29 comments

  1. Not what it used to be by reiserifick · · Score: 2

    I really dislike StackOverflow now because very useful questions are discouraged, simply because they are open ended. I've been on SA since it was in closed beta, and I really do miss the discussion-oriented questions and answers that used to be the norm, rather than the exception.

    1. Re:Not what it used to be by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Stackoverflow is turning into Wikipedia. There are a lot of dickheads there who care for nothing but the process.

      You mention open-ended questions. Lots of open-ended questions from the early days have been recently closed because "it might lead to extended discussion and other bad things yada, yada, yada". Except in the four years the question was there none of these bad things happened. So why close it now? Oh yeah, because rules and processes matter more than having useful answers to useful questions.

    2. Re:Not what it used to be by aybiss · · Score: 2

      Yep, I closed my account there. This new site will simply be a replication of any router manuals you may have laying around. It will deliberately go out of its way to discourage any form of discussion or even the documenting of useful general techniques, because it will be too 'open ended'.

      I hate SO with a passion and I used to enjoy it a lot. Good luck to them with the new arm though.

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      It's OK Bender, there's no such thing as 2.
    3. Re:Not what it used to be by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      i thought they created site running on their platform just for those?

    4. Re:Not what it used to be by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Stackoverflow is turning into Wikipedia. There are a lot of dickheads there who care for nothing but the process.

      Because the process is what leads to good, concise answers. It's what makes stackexchange a good site rather than a heap of shit like expertsexchange.

      some sites have more problems than others, but generally SE is a really good reference due to the high quality content there.

    5. Re: Not what it used to be by CodeReign · · Score: 1

      The obvious question beccons: "where is the replacement".

      I've certainly seen this trend and been filled with rage and anger after a great/helpful question was closed for being open ended. I believe it had 4 possible resolutions based on my knowledge of the subject matter and I would have loved to have seen those 4 answers posted.

    6. Re:Not what it used to be by hedronist · · Score: 1

      Agreed. I haven't closed my account, but I stopped contributing months ago.

      Some of the well-asked open ended questions led to answers that were useful and thought provoking. Now it's turned into "How do I add 2+2 in <insert language>?".

    7. Re:Not what it used to be by hedronist · · Score: 2

      Ah. We seem to have a StackExchange Moderator in our midst.

      I note that, just like the mods that delete 4 year-old, highly viewed/rated posts, this one chooses to act as an AC.

    8. Re:Not what it used to be by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I'm not anywhere near being a SE moderator, and quite frankly I wouldn't want to given the work it involves. I'm just a user who appreciates the quality of the answers. Not everyone has an agenda, stop being so stupidly paranoid.

    9. Re:Not what it used to be by citizenr · · Score: 1

      Maybe they are grooming it to become a source fo AI learning material. Next Watson's knowledge repository? :D

      Why dont they just add "discussion" tag to some posts and leave them open ended?

      --
      Who logs in to gdm? Not I, said the duck.
    10. Re:Not what it used to be by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not only do they close those questions, but sometimes they even delete them. Sometimes you can do a Google search and find a closed question on SO where useful answers were submitted before the question was closed. But I've favorited some of those questions and tried going back to them later only to find out they were deleted after I favorited them.

  2. Re:Really? "Engineering" by gl4ss · · Score: 0

    US English meaning of the word is not the same as the European. Are you by any chance European..?

    what's the us meaning then? just the guy who keeps the engine running?

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    world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
  3. ah yes by mjwalshe · · Score: 1

    the story that conflated setting a little exchange sever with designing a FTS100 companys network

  4. Re:good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Because it would be rejected as too localized ( US only )

  5. Re:Stack exchange launch... another subsite by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1, Informative

    It's a slashvertizement. Real news for nerds would have mentioned the opening of the D&D questions site, but instead we get some boring corporate network crap because those guys are the ones who can pay to market it.

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    const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
    SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  6. I thought I disabled advertising. by JimtownKelly · · Score: 1

    Isn't Slashdot already a Q&A site for network engineers and others?

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    -- Jimtown Kelly
  7. meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ah stackexchange, where the self important spend more time discussing whether the question is valid or not instead of just bloody answering it and moving on.

  8. StackOverflow vs Programmers by Frankie70 · · Score: 3, Informative

    I really dislike StackOverflow now because very useful questions are discouraged, simply because they are open ended.

    The place for open ended question is not SO.

    How to choose between SO and Programmers - http://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/82988/choosing-between-stack-overflow-and-programmers-stack-exchange

    If it is related to coding, it should be on Stack Overflow.

    If it's related to higher level programming concepts or is conceptual (but still related to programming), it should be on Programmers.

    Rule of thumb: if you're sitting in front of your IDE, ask it on Stack Overflow. If you're standing in front of a whiteboard, ask it on Programmers.

  9. Re:Stack exchange launch... another subsite by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 2

    only slightly different CSS

    Not only. If you take the math.stackexchange.com you see that they put an extra effort to have mathematical equations displayed properly on the site.

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