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There are certainly valid uses of [fstab] on AU.SE. However, 95% of them are probably not valid in being Ubuntu specific. Why not migrate those questions to Unix.SE?

Here is an example of a valid question with this tag

Here are some examples of questions that should be migrated,

A moderator should review these, the [fstab] tag should be very suspect that the question more belongs on Unix.SE.

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    Have you cleared this with the Unix.SE mods? The discussion should take place on both ends, since they might not want these questions in the first place.
    – jrg Mod
    Commented Oct 31, 2012 at 18:19
  • Why would they not want them there? I mean sure, for the sake of being safe -- but it seems like most of the [fstab] questions here that are not trash should be welcome there. There are a few other examples of tags that should be prime for a mass migration too, like [kernel]. 90% of them are not specific to Ubuntu.
    – Evan Carroll
    Commented Oct 31, 2012 at 18:35
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    #1 rule of migrating: Don't migrate trash. The only people who can define trash are the receiving sites moderators and 5K users (generally).
    – jrg Mod
    Commented Oct 31, 2012 at 18:41
  • Actually, no the burdon is on us not to migrate the trash. Here is the discussion I posted to their meta.
    – Evan Carroll
    Commented Oct 31, 2012 at 19:51
  • We can't be proper judges of trash, since we don't have to deal with it afterwards. Only those who are on the other end of the deal (and therefore have to deal with it) can judge what is truly trash and what is truly a gem. Thanks for posting on their meta.
    – jrg Mod
    Commented Oct 31, 2012 at 20:06
  • Jeff Atwood says otherwise meta.stackexchange.com/a/89171/157251
    – Evan Carroll
    Commented Oct 31, 2012 at 20:11
  • > That is a bummer, since the golden rule of migration is don't migrate crap.
    – jrg Mod
    Commented Oct 31, 2012 at 20:43
  • I don't see how he says that we can't be proper judges of crap. Considering how U&L has its own set of rules and general guidelines that are (in many respects) similar and yet different from ours, we should ask. Not to mention that this is a large enough operation that we'd need to ask them anyway, since migrating more than 10 questions is a serious under taking.
    – jrg Mod
    Commented Oct 31, 2012 at 20:44
  • Right, and you're the first arbitrator of "crap." Not, the people on the receiving end (as I understand you're arguing). If the question is crap, just delete it. This stands contrary to, "the only people who can define trash are the receiving sites"; and, likewise stands opposite of, "we can't be proper judges of trash, since we don't have to deal with it afterwards."
    – Evan Carroll
    Commented Oct 31, 2012 at 20:45

2 Answers 2

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It's usually not the questions that make this site different from Unix & Linux, but the answers. Almost all the questions asked here are on-topic on Unix & Linux, after all (the rare exceptions would be questions about the Ubuntu project or online services associated with Ubuntu, which U&L might consider off-topic). What makes this site worthwhile is the answers.

On Ask Ubuntu, you can expect to get answers that are tailored for Ubuntu, that are simple with no “if your distribution this” and “OpenBSD that”. On Unix & Linux, the person answering might not be used to Ubuntu, so might make a more generic answer that also helps people running Arch Linux but is missing a few helpful details about Ubuntu.

So in general, questions that are on-topic on Ask Ubuntu are not and should not be migrated to Unix & Linux. The only time an on-topic question should be migrated is if it hasn't received a good answer on the source site and the asker requests migration to expose the question to another audience.

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Migration for questions older than 60 days is disabled network wide (even for moderators), and that makes any large scale migration more trouble than it's worth.

Furthermore out of 183 questions, only 12 are closed, the Ask Ubuntu community doesn't seem to agree with your assertion that the questions don't belong here. I'm not saying they aren't on topic on Unix & Linux as well, but the second rule of migration is be a bit jealous of your site:

Respecting your own community

As members of a community, your first loyalty should be to that community. When evaluating a question, you shouldn’t be looking to push it off on some other site; instead, ask if it could be appropriate and on-topic for you, the experts who the author decided to ask. Be a bit jealous of your site – don’t blithely turn askers away simply because their question could be asked somewhere else. Don’t hit them over the head with your scope, help them tailor their question to fit into it – and if that means your site’s scope overlaps a bit with another site’s, so be it.

Obviously, there are questions you’ll have to turn away, either because their only connection to your site is via the audience (“How do I make bread as a programmer?”), because it’s completely off-topic (“How do I cook a fish in a dishwasher?” obviously belongs on Cooking, not Home Improvement) or because they’re simply not useful or constructive. But that should be your last resort. Close questions with an eye toward improvement and re-opening, not driving users away.

Since the AskUbuntu community in general seems to welcome the questions, no migration is necessary. They might not be Ubuntu specific, but they get expertly answered on AskUbuntu, and that's what matters most.

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