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It seems moderators are too quick to close.

My question on SO, What does the -clean parameter mean in the Eclipse IDE? has a user argue with moderator that it is indeed on topic for Stack Overflow.

While over on Super User I asked, Is it possible to be accepted on Apple’s App Store for a Web App? and my question was closed.

I went to the FAQ and I see nothing against my question.

It fits better than Stack Overflow or Server Fault or Doctype so by elimination I went to Super User. It is obviously computer related and even development related.

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    I think that it should of been migrated to Stack Overflow.
    – thyrgle
    Aug 9, 2010 at 1:55
  • Keep in mind that many Apple app store questions are closed even on Stack Overflow simply because Apple's policies are too nebulous for anyone here to be able to give specific answers. However, that one looks like it would fly... In that it would be closed as a duplicate
    – Shog9
    Sep 18, 2010 at 17:48

4 Answers 4

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For your first question on Stack Overflow, it was one non-moderator user that voted to close. You need either 5 people or <5 people and 1 moderator. The person who voted to close was not a moderator - if it was a mod that voted to close, the question would be automatically closed. I would not worry about your question being closed - it was either a mistake, a confused user, or someone who doesn't understand what is allowed on Stack Overflow. If the question does actually get closed, come back here and I'm sure you can get 5 people (or a single moderator) to reopen it as it is indeed appropriate for SO.

As for the second question, it's not appropriate for Super User. Phones and other similar devices are off-topic, regardless of the question. SU is for questions relating to software and hardware of personally-owned desktop and laptop computers. Your question about iPhone web apps does not fit that category and would best be asked on Stack Overflow (it is development related, specifically getting your application to the end user) or an iPhone developer's Stack Exchange (I don't think one exists yet, but I'm not an iPhone developer, so I'm not sure).

The very first question in the Super User FAQ explains why your question was closed:

What kind of questions can I ask here?

Super User is for computer enthusiasts and power users. If you have a question about …

  • computer hardware
  • computer software

and it is not about …

  • videogames or consoles
  • websites or web services like Facebook, Twitter, and WordPress
  • electronic devices, media players, cell phones or smart phones, except insofar as they interface with your computer
  • a shopping or buying recommendation

… then you're in the right place to ask your question!

Please look around to see if your question has already been asked (and maybe even answered!) before you ask. It's also perfectly fine to ask and answer your own question, as long as you pretend you're on Jeopardy: phrase it in the form of a question.

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Closed as off-topic from Super User for the following reasons:

  • iPhone related
  • Asking about a web app
  • Software development related
  • Apple appstore rules

It's less messy to close as off-topic and later re-open and migrate it out.

Since it fits better on Mothership Stack Overflow, it's been shunted to their waters. Enjoy.

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Even when 5 users and/or a moderator are wrong about a question being off-topic, then it's most likely caused by an unclear question. Even then, like for any question that is due to be closed, it's is important to have it (temporary) closed as quickly as possible. I think that's the only way to keep the communities clean and have new (and existing) visitors understand and adhere to the faqs.

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The close for off-topic really makes me angry because it makes LOSE MY TIME and Im not alone and this is so irritating that this guy who has contributed for 2 years doesn't seem to want to do so any more:

http://weblogs.asp.net/rosherove/archive/2010/09/24/why-stackexchange-will-eventually-fail-control-freak-ism.aspx

one time, I asked this question (superuser.com/.../is-there-a-website-or-service-that-will-perform-a-server-side-readability-manipul) on SuperUser.com (thinking it was still the general purpose "personal computer" site) and had it quickly closed as being "off-topic". Obviously it's "off-topic" with webapps.SE in existence, but I didn't know WebApps.SE even existed. That was the final straw for me.

Closing even by moderator should be forbidden and replaced by moving to another stack with notification to author or in a queue if nobody knows.

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    Now that WebApps has graduated to a full site and is no longer in beta status, questions can be migrated from SU to WA. We have had more than several questions migrated over. When the question was asked, this migration option wasn't available, so closing it and leaving a comment was the only option available. The alternative was to close it and not direct the user anywhere. That isn't a better option. That said, the FAQ on each site defines what questions are on-topic. They also list common alternatives.
    – Rebecca Chernoff
    Oct 10, 2010 at 23:30
  • There are questions that are off-topic on any current Stack Exchange/Trilogy site and probably any future one. In the meantime, keeping the sites on topic seems to work really well.
    – David Thornley
    Oct 11, 2010 at 13:42
  • "That said, the FAQ on each site defines what questions are on-topic." Oh yeah like the LAW. It's so obvious that you have a whole bunch of jusrists just to interpret it. So are you kidding by saying that the FAQ is quite sufficient ? Like some corrupt judges in our democracy bureaucry is creeping in the system.
    – Asksuperuser
    Oct 11, 2010 at 19:12

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