20
votes
Why is "posted on multiple sites" as a closing reason absent on Ask Ubuntu?
Each site can have 4 custom close reasons, as Thomas explained, and on Unix & Linux, we have added a reason for cross posting. So the strange thing isn't that AU doesn't have the reason, but that ...
14
votes
When do we say a problem can't be reproduced?
I think it's somewhat subjective... but I would like to share my perspective for discussion, even though I am pretty new to the site.
Along with some other folks, I do some cleanup, meaning I spend ...

ZannaMod
- 68.9k
13
votes
"Can I run Ubuntu on my hardware?" questions: a discussion
IMO these should be closed for multiple reasons:
consumer hardware changes too quickly and has too many minor variations for the answers to have any lasting value. Same problem with shopping ...
13
votes
Accepted
Correct action for questions in legal grey area
It's not illegal to run OS X in a VM. My government will not care.
It may be a breach of the license terms. But that's not our problem. The user should know the license agreement.
There is no way we ...
12
votes
Accepted
Errors while upgrading from a EOL release -- should the question be closed?
People trying to scramble onto a supported release should be given all the help we can muster.
We shouldn't be closing them (as OT-EOL)
The parenthesis there is just to indicate that they could still ...
OliMod
- 288k
12
votes
Accepted
ROS is not an OS but a framework, please reopen my question
I edited the ros tag to make it easier to understand, and I edited these other framework tags: tinyos, katoolin and zend.
I will try to implement any requests for improvements in framework tags, ...
12
votes
Why is "posted on multiple sites" as a closing reason absent on Ask Ubuntu?
We can only have 4 custom close reasons, and to my knowledge, crossposting doesn't come up enough to make it worthy of a close reason for itself.
Thomas WardMod
- 71.8k
11
votes
Accepted
When do we say a problem can't be reproduced?
I think if you just changed the title of the question to "Why does launching an application via gksu not work?" or similar and then keep the body as an example would make the question immediately more ...
9
votes
Collective "On Topic-ity"
Some examples would be useful, but I must say I don't really share your concern on this. I don't see many off-topic questions answered here.
At the same time, I do see quite some questions marked off-...
9
votes
Only close if there is a good reason. Don't just close bad questions - that's what downvoting is for
No, that kind of questions shall be shot on sight.
It's a homework programming question.
Homework questions are ok (at least IMO) when:
They're explained well enough. That's the bare minimum for ...
9
votes
Close voters: we have a Reason for that (EoL posts are not necessarily duplicates)
Unless I am missing an essential part I have to disagree with @Zanna in this special case.
The "original" question is not only about upgrading but also about problems to install software within the ...
9
votes
Should we reopen a post closed as off-topic after the version release?
IMHO such questions can be reopened if they are about something that is reproducible in the released version. I voted to reopen the question you linked to. The fact that you got upvotes for your ...

ZannaMod
- 68.9k
9
votes
Accepted
How to deal with late answers for no longer supported releases in the review queue?
Do nothing. As long as it seems like a suitable answer we leave it alone.
This said, if the post is spammy, not related, or similar then we address it. Otherwise, we leave the questions be - no ...
Thomas WardMod
- 71.8k
9
votes
Can we do away with, "We don't support EOL distributions" when it is tangential and completely and utterly unrelated to the question?
It does occasionally matter though... Even if it doesn't in this case.
The people initially involved in the question might not know or appreciate the finer details of what's going on. Networking ...
OliMod
- 288k
9
votes
Accepted
Should Elementary OS be added to the flag text "This is not about an official Ubuntu flavor."?
status-declined
We have a very limited amount of space for statements in close reasons - if we could fit other OSes there we probably would but we are out of space in that reason's length to do that ...
Thomas WardMod
- 71.8k
8
votes
We should be able to vote to change the close reason
Until/unless this feature request is ever implemented, these are the current options in situations like this.
Comment on the question, warning people in your comment
This alerts others to the ...
8
votes
Add Elementary OS Stack Exchange to the off topic banner
Note: This answer now also exists as separate feature request here on meta.askubuntu.com.
Further updates and discussion should take place over there.
If you like this answer, please make sure you ...
8
votes
Accepted
Please don't close questions that are for "developers"
You're misinterpreting the Help Center information.
Firstly, 18.04 is offtopic as it is in development and not yet 'stable'. That's the first and foremost issue with the question you've linked.
We ...
Thomas WardMod
- 71.8k
8
votes
Accepted
Close reason are using HTTP instead of HTTPS
Invoking the great powers of JNat, this issue has been resolved smoothly. Thank you for bringing it to our attention.
jokerdinoMod
- 40.9k
8
votes
Improving question closed banners for most users - short wording needed for site specific reasons
UPDATE:
I've updated the close blurbs for 1 and 4 below to match the text I've proposed. I haven't updated 2 because there was some ongoing discussion about site scope that seems to need to wrap up ...
7
votes
Accepted
Question about Katoolin is being close voted as off-topic because it's "not about Ubuntu"
The question about Katoolin has not been closed, and now it shows that there aren't any close votes. I think the root of the problem is that new users who want ask a question about using Kali Linux ...
7
votes
Collective "On Topic-ity"
Nope, I don't think it's as simple as that.
We have a community of people here who help Ubuntu users do stuff. Often that's highlighted as a "how do I do X" but occasionally that screws down into a ...
OliMod
- 288k
7
votes
Please don't close questions that are for "developers"
I think you have misinterpreted the Help Center advice.
Questions about developing software for Ubuntu are on-topic. That's what it means by "Ubuntu developers".
Questions asking developers to fix ...

ZannaMod
- 68.9k
6
votes
Accepted
Creating a good question: Feedback along with Close votes?
The reasons for close voting gives you at least some information on why. I can understand you'd like to have more information, however:
Reviewing is quite a burden to the site. We already have a ...
5
votes
What happened to "blatantly off-topic"?
"Blatantly Off Topic" was created in a time when we envisioned folks becoming horribly lost and asking how to find their lost cat on a site about mathematics.
But as the size and experience-level of ...
5
votes
Do we actually close no-repro bugs reported on meta as no-repro?
Firstly, separate the closure from the tag. They aren't the same thing, they didn't happen at the same time. Again, tagging something as status-norepro does not close it. The closure came from other ...
OliMod
- 288k
5
votes
Add ubuntu forums link to opinion close reason?
Directing users to the Ubuntu forums to solicit opinions sounds logical to me. It then makes the scopes of Ask Ubuntu, Ubuntu forums and the Ubuntu subreddit very clear: Ask Ubuntu for clear-cut ...
5
votes
Why was this question closed?
There can be a example of what was the case with Windows 8 or 8.1 and that would also likely occur with Windows 10.
A question on something that's not out yet is just asking for speculation. So make ...
5
votes
Should we really divert all software recommendations?
Short answer:
As long the question is not asking for "the best", I would say it is on topic here. OP just asks for "a" translator of a certain type for Ubuntu, which is a question ...
5
votes
Accepted
About "not constructive" questions
I may partly agree with you, in that the not constructive close reason was confusing and we don't use it anymore. I'm sorry it ever did exist--or, really, mainly just that it was called that. It's not ...
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible
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