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Is ask Ubuntu a site to ask questions about Ubuntu, a certain piece of software? Or is it just like for asking any type of questions? Or is it a sub-category of Stack Exchange which is the main site?

Think about, say, facebook; there's the main page, then there's smaller categories like other pages within the site, other communities within one community... So I'm asking, is Ask Ubuntu just a subcategory of the main site, Stack Exchange, and would I have to ask my questions around the topic of Ubuntu?

Just wondering because I found a question that wasn't specifically about Ubuntu here earlier...

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    Ubuntu is an Operating System and yes, all questions on-topic here are about Ubuntu or official Ubuntu derivatives.
    – user880592
    Commented Nov 9, 2018 at 16:13

3 Answers 3

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StackExchange is the "Mother of" all specific sites. Some examples:

There are dozens of them, see https://stackexchange.com/sites for an overview.

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  • I actually see a tiny difference between the particular Ubuntu site; cross-sites preferences are not taken into account with askubuntu. Maybe I missed something, but once I'm logged in an other SE site, I'm logged in all others, except askubuntu.
    – s.k
    Commented Apr 5, 2020 at 8:01
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Stack Exchange had a site specifically for Unix and Linux before Ask Ubuntu came into existence. Despite of the the Stack Exchange policy against fragmentation,after deliberation and voting, Ask Ubuntu was allowed to continue alongside a separate 'Linux and Unix' site.

Ask Ubuntu receives help from Canonical Ltd.(Company behind development and distribution of Ubuntu) which has allowed the site to use their trademark. Canonical Ltd has also helped in the designing of the site, ensuring that Ask Ubuntu's theme follows the Ubuntu brand guidelines.

So Ask Ubuntu is a site which is a part of Stack Exchange network specifically designed for Q&A for Ubuntu.

Source: Ask Ubuntu - Wikipedia

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    I'd just like to nitpick on a few points. Unix and Linux wasn't in beta yet when Ask Ubuntu was proposed. AU was proposed almost 2 weeks after UL was proposed, however, Ask Ubuntu reached private and public beta before Unix and Linux. Ref 1 (SO Blog), Ref 2 (SO Blog), Ref 3 (Area 51), Ref 4 (Area 51)
    – Dan
    Commented Nov 15, 2018 at 17:20
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Stack Exchange is a network of currently 174 Q&A sites (175 really, but we don't count Area 51 Stack Exchange as a Q&A site.) and the main site Ask Ubuntu is one of them.

It was created using the Area 51 process like most of the other Stack Exchange sites except Stack Overflow,Super Users,Server Fault, Ask Patent, and CS50.SE.

So, it's a part of the Stack Exchange network following the same criterias of the Stack Exchange system.

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  • Was AU from Area 51? I thought AU predated Area 51,this is one of the older SE sites, about 7 years I think?
    – Mark Kirby
    Commented Nov 10, 2018 at 10:01
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    @MarkKirby Ask Ubuntu was proposed by Evan 8 years back. For proposal, see here. And according to this, only 3 sites were there before Area 51, StackOverflow, Server Fault and Super User.
    – Kulfy
    Commented Nov 10, 2018 at 11:04
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    Wow - 96% answered rate. If only we could get close to that these days XD
    – Zanna Mod
    Commented Nov 10, 2018 at 12:46

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