I think some general questions are useful, but it is a question of how general. At some point the question gets too vague, and I think the question you asked was just too vague. Some other questions that are still fairly general, but can be answered well are:

• Tips for getting to grips with the command line.
• What's the easiest way to get started with LaTeX on Ubuntu?
• What video players do you recommend for Ubuntu?

These would provide background information, but the questioner in these cases has been specific enough that a good answer can be provided. Your question wasn't. As I said in a comment to your question, I'd be up for specific questions with use cases - for example

• LAMP server - what needs to be backed up and how?
• I run a mail server using postfix, are there any tasks I should be doing regularly?

I think some general questions are useful, but it is a question of how general. At some point the question gets too vague, and I think the question you asked was just too vague. Some other questions that are still fairly general, but can be answered well are:

• Tips for getting to grips with the command line.
• What's the easiest way to get started with LaTeX on Ubuntu?
• What video players do you recommend for Ubuntu?

These would provide background information, but the questioner in these cases has been specific enough that a good answer can be provided. Your question wasn't. As I said in a comment to your question, I'd be up for specific questions with use cases - for example

• LAMP server - what needs to be backed up and how?
• I run a mail server using postfix, are there any tasks I should be doing regularly?