As a newer user on Ask Ubuntu I have seen activity from older (higher ranked) users that they themselves would count as off-topic. For example questions on EOL versions or versions that are soon to come. I have seen this more then a few times by different older user that then comment on another post saying that it is off-topic because it is EOL or not released or whatever the matter may be. So why is this so excepted by Admins or the "community" in Ask Ubuntu and not more frowned at? (We should all have the same ability to ask questions and follow the same rules regardless of how often you are on or how high your rank is lead by example??!!)
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1Did you look at the posting dates? It may be that the release was not yet EOL at the time a question was asked.– TakkatCommented Jan 26, 2016 at 19:40
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of course, search 16.04 or4 12.02 new questions...– DnrDevilCommented Jan 26, 2016 at 19:49
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because higher ranked users are the one who flag these flags, and they dont flag themselves :)– Alex JonesCommented Jan 26, 2016 at 19:53
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so its the f the rules i do what i want kinda thing....ok then– DnrDevilCommented Jan 26, 2016 at 19:54
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3@DnrDevil No-one is exempt from following the rules. Also, how about providing some examples ? Let's analyze what's happening there– Sergiy KolodyazhnyyCommented Jan 26, 2016 at 19:57
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12.04 is LTS and reaches EOL in April 2017. Questions on an upcoming Ubuntu release are not all off topic. We have some guide here: meta.askubuntu.com/questions/871/…– TakkatCommented Jan 26, 2016 at 20:00
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5You need to link to examples.– Jorge CastroCommented Jan 26, 2016 at 20:00
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Can you post some examples? As of now this is just a claim. If that happens to be true I'll be happy to vote to close them myself. Some questions are on-topic, for example when the reasons you'd usually close an EOL question for don't apply. So this is actually based on the specific question.– kosCommented Jan 26, 2016 at 20:00
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You can't make accusations like these without giving some proper evidence, can you give us at least 5 links to questions which aren't closed as off-topic but you think should be?– user364819Commented Jan 26, 2016 at 20:04
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sure here is a new question that is considered off-topic askubuntu.com/questions/725975/…– DnrDevilCommented Jan 26, 2016 at 20:05
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1I am confused, that question is not considered off-topic.– Jorge CastroCommented Jan 26, 2016 at 20:15
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How is it not? maybe I am confused I was under the impression questions on not released versions are off-topic– DnrDevilCommented Jan 26, 2016 at 20:16
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The question asks about decisions that the Ubuntu team took in the development of 16.04 release. It could be closed as opinion based, but it the official answer provides sources to support the decision claims, so this is not opinion-based. Too broad ? No. Unsupported version? Maybe . . 16.04 is in development, so it could be closed for those reasons. But it doesn't ask specifically about the system, rather about the developer decisions.– Sergiy KolodyazhnyyCommented Jan 26, 2016 at 20:20
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5I think some of the confusion here stems from the fact that older users are more likely understand the "why" behind the rules (we don't make them arbitrarily after all!) and thus can navigate the "waters" better. The community here at Ask Ubuntu has spent many years forming the rules so that questions we can't answer don't clog us up, but those we can are welcomed. Sometimes this can have the unfortunate consequence of making certain rules a little more confusing than they might otherwise be. If you have any ideas on how to improve things, meta is the place :)– Seth ModCommented Jan 26, 2016 at 20:26
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@DnrDevil The reason that specific question isn't off-topic is outlined in the post Takkat linked earlier: meta.askubuntu.com/questions/871/…– Seth ModCommented Jan 26, 2016 at 20:27
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1 Answer
Some of the questions aren't necessarily off-topic, as the person asking question may mention their release version, but the problem doesn't relate to the version of Ubuntu specifically : for instance, a networking or scripting question would not be off topic. Questions where the issue is clearly related to the OS version being unsupported already, it's good call to close and advise the user to upgrade.
There's no privilege for higher ranked users as far as closing or not closing questions goes. But higher users may exercise better judgement when flagging a question.
answered Jan 26, 2016 at 19:56
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This helps a lot with questions about EOL versions , that i have seen asked by older user. thank you for clarifying "networking or scripting question would not be off topic"– DnrDevilCommented Jan 26, 2016 at 20:07
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4@DnrDevil: If you ever think one of my questions is off-topic, please flag it as such and tell me about it in the comments! We're not older nor wiser then anyone else: we've just been around for longer! ;-)– FabbyCommented Jan 26, 2016 at 21:46
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