Questions tagged [discussion]
The question you're asking is designed to solicit opinions or best-practices on a particular topic, with the goal of reaching community consensus.
1,038
questions
14
votes
3
answers
913
views
Is Ubuntu WSL with Linux Mint repos/packages OK for Ask Ubuntu?
I recently installed Ubuntu on WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux). After installation, I added the Linux Mint repositories, and installed several packages from them (like mintinstall and cinnamon). Can ...
- 121
14
votes
2
answers
253
views
Do we need a vacuum cleaner? (corvee week?)
Related to this one and even more to this one, and probably a lot more; Do we need a "clean up week" to get rid of the depressing load of posts, waiting to be reviewed (without forgetting to be ...
- 82k
14
votes
4
answers
636
views
Should questions about Nexus 7 be off-topic?
Questions about the Ubuntu installation on Nexus 7 are starting to appear on AskUbuntu such as this:
How to Enable Wireless on Nexus 7
Given that Canonical themselves have pitched the Nexus 7 as a ...
fossfreedomMod
- 171k
14
votes
7
answers
523
views
Does voting up have to be serious?
Sometimes when I come across a question I like, I usually upvote it. When I com across a bad question, I leave a comment or edit it.
The thing is, do I really have to think before I upvote a ...
- 6,820
14
votes
1
answer
154
views
Merge [resolution] into [something-resolution]
This was a mistake. Resolution should have never been the main tag for all screen/display/monitor resolution issues. This is more evident when you get exactly 4 tags for all these issues, created by ...
- 66.6k
14
votes
1
answer
401
views
Should I flag "me too" answers?
I am seeing a small issue with "me too"s on a few questions, especially common hardware that often has driver issues, like this question. Should this be flagged, commented, or something else?
- 20.6k
13
votes
1
answer
233
views
Does it make sense to continue to post links to apps.ubuntu.com in answers?
Specifically I'm asking about the concept discussed in the top rated answers in the meta post How to post links that integrate with the Software Center?
Once upon a time, when apps.ubuntu.com was up ...
- 35.3k
13
votes
1
answer
242
views
When should we use Launchpad Answers and when Ask Ubuntu
(I am reposting a question from Ubuntu Launchpad Answers.)
From what I see, in the Ubuntu community we now have 2 official tools for asking questions related to Ubuntu. One is hosted by Launchpad ...
- 2,852
13
votes
2
answers
165
views
The 'error' tag should be blacklisted
The error tag:
is general
is ambiguous
describes over half of the questions on Ask Ubuntu
is misleading
could mean boot errors, graphical errors, errors seen in the terminal, etc.
If the error tag is ...
- 2,995
13
votes
2
answers
313
views
Should I keep an eye on spam-like answers about free software? Or why do people spam-promote free software?
I mistakenly flagged this answer as spam. The flag was rejected. At first I tought the reason was that in first place the answer, on-topic or not, didn't refer to any paid software, but just to a bash ...
- 35.3k
13
votes
1
answer
244
views
Am I allowed to ask for a rep boost?
I asked a question with a bounty and didn't realize I would loose the ability to comment. Can I get a few up votes to get enough reputation back please? I've seen this done on other meta sites so I ...
- 227
13
votes
2
answers
359
views
Another "why was my answer deleted" looking for advice to be better
I am new to posting questions and answers on SE, although not new to using the various SE resources. I also get the need for questions and answers to be concise and accurate, we all need answers and ...
- 31
13
votes
1
answer
272
views
Why can't I flag rants as rude?
Apparently, I've been flag banned again, after a very small amount of time.
This time it's because I flagged this question, which is a wonderful example of rudeness (I'm considering the question and ...
- 7,755
13
votes
1
answer
213
views
Please reconsider closing bug-related questions if a workaround can be produced
I would like to investigate if there is a changed point of view concerning allowing bug- related questions in specific cases. The last time this was discussed is four years ago, and practice seems to ...
- 82k
12
votes
1
answer
292
views
Behavior of Site when Marking Test Questions as Duplicates / Commenting on Test Questions
I just wanted to review first posts and got this one. A few days ago, I already came across that quesiton by normally browsing AskUbuntu.
I knew that the wording of the question was exactly the same ...
- 5,530
12
votes
2
answers
224
views
How do I demote my own answer and encourage people to see the more detailed one?
In this question Bertrand's answer is better because he linked to a blog post from an upstream developer with much better information.
I think my answer got top voted because I happened to post first ...
- 70.6k
12
votes
2
answers
233
views
How do I increase my rep as a Linux newbie?
I'm new to Linux so I can't answer most questions here. Are there any good ways, other than surfing the site and answering, to increase my reputation?
12
votes
0
answers
144
views
Clearing out the close review queue 2015
From my point of view, there are ~880 questions in the close review queue. I don't recall a time when it was below 700 (I became active only around last June).
Do we need to put in a concerted effort ...
- 191k
12
votes
3
answers
173
views
What is the proper usage of the windows tag?
I noticed this question today. The question is apparently about workspaces, but is a bit unclear on that. In any case, it used the "windows" tag with a different meaning than the other questions using ...
- 942
12
votes
4
answers
393
views
Messages to close voters in questions: are they OK?
It is occasional practice of some users to place message along the lines
CLOSE VOTERS: please don't close this as duplicate because it is not because A,B,C.
My question is this: Are we OK with ...
- 102k
12
votes
1
answer
313
views
Do we, or do we not support wubi.exe?
I have been wondering this for a while and would like to get a definitive answer.
We still get questions on wubi on the site, however, it is no longer developed and won't work on a modern Windows OS (...
- 18.2k
12
votes
1
answer
8k
views
imgur.com is deleting images
I've seen a few questions and answers with images like:
The image you are requesting does not exist or is no longer available.
Obviously, that's not good for the use of this website.
What's wrong ...
- 171k
12
votes
1
answer
247
views
Which StackExchange website is the best for general non-programming Linux questions?
Which StackExchange website is the best for general non-programming Linux questions? I have some Linux questions that are not directly related to Ubuntu and not related to programming. Does ...
- 1,120
12
votes
3
answers
266
views
what's up with duplicate answers?
Have a look at, for instance, this question. Someone asked for a text equivalent to wireshark, and I answered "tshark". Then some time later, someone else comes along and posts a second answer ...
- 9,131
12
votes
2
answers
351
views
Why do people edit in (usually pointless) bold and italics to questions?
I'm not pointing about any users, but there are a few I know that like bolding things in questions. Is there a specific reason to do this?
Readability is the largest reason I have heard. However, I ...
- 33.7k
12
votes
3
answers
218
views
What should I (or we) do about answers that obviously miss the point of the question entirely?
I came across this answer to “Adobe PDF for Ubuntu 64 bit 15.10” recently. The question is about installing Adobe Reader on recent Ubuntu releases. The answer explains the whole story with the ...
- 35.6k
12
votes
0
answers
534
views
Let's stop using "How do I resolve unmet dependencies?" for dpkg questions (and probably for most apt questions)
The most used close target for apt/dpkg questions is this. However, that does not help if the problem is not with apt but with the underlying dpkg.
I very often find things like these when I check ...
- 66.6k
11
votes
1
answer
495
views
Please, don't use the edit button in the close queue to correct typos or improve the formatting, you are reviewing to close!
As the title says, please don't! This throws the item out of the review queue just by correcting a typo or formatting a bunch of code. The "Edit" button is only helpful in the cases where the question ...
- 66.6k
11
votes
1
answer
101
views
Tag synonym request: [library]->[libraries]
library has 15 posts, and libraries also has 15 posts. They should be merged into libraries, as both tags have fairly similar questions about missing libaries.
- 20.6k
11
votes
2
answers
130
views
What do we do about topics spanning multiple versions of Ubuntu?
For instance, What are PPAs and how do I use them PPA? this has multiple correct answers depending on what version of Ubuntu you are using. Should we continue this method or look to create separate ...
- 47.7k
11
votes
1
answer
242
views
Is there a policy on the use of emojis or emoticons?
Is there any policy on the use of emojis or emoticons?
Examples:
Can't login with my PIN password in Ubuntu 18.10
In https://askubuntu.com/posts/1105109/revisions it was part of the code until ...
- 40.8k
11
votes
2
answers
247
views
How to improve my accept rate?
On several SE sites, my accept rate is below 90%. The reason isn't that I just neglect to accept the answer that solved the problem, but rather that no answer was really helpful. My concern is that ...
- 10.3k
11
votes
1
answer
191
views
When to add another answer instead of updating my current one?
If I click on the Add Another Answer button, a warning pops up:
Are you sure you want to add another answer?
You could use the edit link to refine and improve your existing answer, instead.
When ...
- 66.5k
11
votes
2
answers
678
views
Is it OK to not accept an answer out of many equally good ones?
I have recently asked this question which got two answers.
The two answers are correct and solved my problem efficiently in two different ways.
Accepting an answer is important as it both rewards ...
- 13.4k
11
votes
1
answer
167
views
PSA: When reviewing, remember to think of the future!
I've been reviewing a ton lately and the version tags are becoming worse and worse.
Note to selves, Jeff warned us about this:
When should we use the versions tags?
Version tags can be dangerous ...
- 70.6k
11
votes
1
answer
369
views
How to describe keyboard shorcuts?
What's the best way to describe a keyboard shortcut in a question? For instance, if I'm talking about a shorcut that consists of the Ctrl and the + keys pressed together.
Should I describe it as Ctrl++...
- 9,866
11
votes
1
answer
174
views
Poorly Written Questions - Is it okay to downvote?
I have seen a lot of questions where people do not bother to spell check or capitalize their I's, and leave beginnings of sentences uncapitalized. I have seen posts that use texting abbreviations, etc....
- 7,668
11
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Questions "just for curiosity"
Is it acceptable to ask questions "just for curiosity", or should we refrain from that to avoid overloading the site already choked with panicked questions? Also, if we do, should we somehow mark it ...
- 20.6k
11
votes
1
answer
354
views
I have less than 50 reputation but I recieved achievement that I can comment although I actually can't
I can't comment because lack of reputation but it showed the achievement. I've tried to comment but of course I failed.
- 383
11
votes
2
answers
764
views
Should we unpin the accepted answer from the top of the list on meta?
This is the partner to my other question, concerning specifically Meta Ask Ubuntu. Because accepts may have a somewhat different meaning or purpose on meta I am posting this question to gather ...
ZannaMod
- 68.9k
11
votes
4
answers
364
views
2020 Moderator Election Q&A - Question Collection
The purpose of this thread was to collect questions for the questionnaire. The questionnaire is now live, and you may find it here.
Ask Ubuntu is scheduled for an election next week, June 8th 2020. ...
- 101
10
votes
4
answers
269
views
Why was question 4389 closed?
This question.
As I understand it, it's just a fun question, quite like the apt-get-from-2020 one. I really can't understand why we accept and upvote one, but not the other. Sure it should be a ...
- 34.9k
10
votes
1
answer
209
views
These tags are [virtual-]ly the same!
Right now we have separate virtual-console and virtual-terminal tags. One should be made a synonym of the other, but which one should be the master tag?
We have another question on meta about this, ...
- 116k
10
votes
0
answers
151
views
2020: a year in moderation
As we say goodbye to the old year and welcome the new one, we have a tradition of sharing moderation stats for the past 12 months.
As most of you here are aware, sites on the Stack Exchange network ...
- 101
10
votes
1
answer
204
views
Where is the line of topicality where WSL is involved?
Q0: Where is the line of topicality where WSL is involved?
Q1: Now that Ubuntu can be run on Windows using WSL, I see many questions about windows-subsystem-for-linux Are these questions a better fit ...
- 4,669
10
votes
2
answers
439
views
Some SE network ads are offtopic/inappropriate.
I think it's nice that there are cross network ads to have people find other SEs, but it feels to me like most of the skeptics ads are so offtopic that it detracts from the site itself:
(Jeff asked ...
- 70.6k
9
votes
1
answer
189
views
Creating a banner for 10th birthday celebrations
This follows up on How should we celebrate 10 years of Ask Ubuntu?. The proposal to create a banner was well-received and it was suggested that this would be a good way to link to celebration events.
...
ZannaMod
- 68.9k
9
votes
3
answers
282
views
Shouldn’t we lower the close/reopen vote threshold?
More than half a year ago, Stack Overflow lowered the close/reopen vote threshold from 5 to 3.
Ask Ubuntu has an order of magnitude smaller community than Stack Overflow1 but we still require 5 close/...
- 11k
9
votes
2
answers
231
views
Should a question be separated in different questions according to Ubuntu versions involved?
I have initially posted this question on the installation of the LBP-1120 canon printer only in relation to Ubuntu 11.10.
but:
I was not able to find a satisfactory answer for 11.10
Meanwhile I ...
user47206
9
votes
2
answers
185
views
Accepted answer that you don't agree with during review audit
As I was going through and reviewing posts, I saw this one.
I downvoted it and then got this message:
STOP! Look and Listen.
This was an audit, designed to see if you were paying attention. ...
- 10.7k