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So I was doing the "first questions" moderation queue and this question on making a program quit using a keypress came up.

To me, the question is clearly due for another site -- probably Superuser or Unix, maybe SO -- it's not about Ubuntu IMO.

When I tried to moderate it I got a 'failed' warning telling me this was a test question and was already approved.

How is the question an exemplar of Ask Ubuntu questions? Why is it not more appropriate for one of the other SE sites?

To me it seems like the sort of question we do answer here (with comments!) but which rightly belongs on a different SE where it almost certainly had a good answer already.

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    I don't understand. Why would you think it isn't on topic here? Remember, there is almost nothing at all that is 100% specific to Ubuntu, Ubuntu is just another Linux distro, so we never expect questions to be exclusive to Ubuntu. If the OP is using Ubuntu, then it is probably fine.
    – terdon
    Commented Jul 12, 2022 at 11:22
  • Is it only offtopic if it's not possible to do on Ubuntu then? Another question was a completely .Net related question, the user happened to be running it on WINE, and happened to be running that on an 'ubuntu -- weird to even bother having different SE sites at that point IMO. Thanks for the input. In view of this I think that the "belongs on another Stack Exchange site." flag hint should be changed as, eg, a generic shell question does belong on other stack exchange sites.
    – pbhj
    Commented Jul 12, 2022 at 19:08
  • First, review audit questions are not hand picked as "exemplary" questions. I also don't see how this question should be off topic. Generally we will assume a question is about Ubuntu unless it's clearly about another OS. Another reason a question could be off-topic is if the question is obviously more appropriate for another SE. For example, a highly technical question about designing a 3D object in blender would be off-topic even if the OP indicates they are using blender. But a question asking how to create shortcut or how to open a file in blender would be on topic.
    – Nmath
    Commented Jul 12, 2022 at 20:15
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    Our scope can be confusing. But basically, if you're using Ubuntu, you can ask here. If your question is about C++ memory allocation, then it's off topic, but if it's about getting your C++ code to compile and run on Ubuntu it is probably on topic. And the shell is such an integral part of Ubuntu, that shell questions are certainly on topic.
    – terdon
    Commented Jul 12, 2022 at 23:06
  • Sorry, I was on mobile when I posted my previous comment, so here are some relevant links: Are "not only Ubuntu-specific" questions on-topic? Are bash/shell scripting questions on topic?
    – terdon
    Commented Jul 13, 2022 at 16:45
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    Weak hierarchy and a process that's going to produce widespread duplication across different SE sites just seems really out of keeping. Like, I use my keyboard to use Ubuntu, so questions about keyboard switches should be on topic, or about replacing capacitors in a power supply. Anyway, I think I understand the delineation now (just don't agree with it ;o)). Thanks.
    – pbhj
    Commented Jul 13, 2022 at 19:18
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    Does this answer your question? Are "not only Ubuntu-specific" questions on-topic?
    – NotTheDr01ds
    Commented Jul 13, 2022 at 20:07
  • @pbhj hardware issues with your keyboard would be off-topic, but software issues (mapping keys, etc) would not be. Hardware issues, in general, are not on-topic (except for how to use your hardware with Ubuntu, I guess)
    – Esther
    Commented Jul 15, 2022 at 3:22

1 Answer 1

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https://askubuntu.com/help/on-topic

Questions that you may ask:

  • Using and administering official Ubuntu flavors: [...].

  • Running third-party applications on Ubuntu.

  • Development on Ubuntu.

  • [...]

Stopping a program with a keypress combination falls well within these scenarios.

This is exactly what this site is for.

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