Re:Why I no longer contribute to StackOverflow — Michael T. ...
by angdis on Wednesday January 08, 2014 @12:00PM
(#7024691)
I agree with all the points raised, especially about the rampant authoritarianism that crushes earnest, well-intentioned questions by new users (as well as regulars).
Still, Stackoverflow is pretty damn good at what it does: provide answers to answerable questions. It still is a really good source of information with a high signal to noise ratio. Compared to the junk that used to come up on google searches before stackoverflow, we are all in a much better position than we were before.
I do think, however, that if stackoverflow had started with the pendantic, persnickety moderators they have now, it never would have become the resource that it is today.
Still, Stackoverflow is pretty damn good at what it does: provide answers to answerable questions. It still is a really good source of information with a high signal to noise ratio. Compared to the junk that used to come up on google searches before stackoverflow, we are all in a much better position than we were before.
I do think, however, that if stackoverflow had started with the pendantic, persnickety moderators they have now, it never would have become the resource that it is today.
Better to go to IRC if it's a technical question, but again that might not get a response.
Btw, for Rails there's a free phone hotline staffed by volunteers: http://rails.pockethotline.com/