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This post picks up a tangent of the main question. I wrote it up before realizing that it's really its own thing.

For that matter, we don't need 71 sites. Let's take a quick look at some of the merges that are theoretically possible.

The following lists are only hypothetical. If we were to consider a merge, I believe that a referendum should be put to all affected sites, let alone any problems that we may face with each particular set of sites.

• Religion and Spirituality, incorporating Christianity, Jewish Life and Learning, Islam (A51), Hinduism (A51), Buddhism (A51), the closed Atheism, and all other religions
  • Why? Think of why SO succeeded—C and Pascal have little to do with each other; it's the fact that we let all things code related onto SO that SO succeeded.
  • Downsides: Religions tend to be more controversial, thus leading us to need more mods + people are more likely to ragequit; also, do we admit atheism/agnosticism;
• Languages, incorporating EL&U, French, German, Japanese, and all other languages
  • A lot of languages share roots
  • Might allow limited translation to thrive
  • Downsides: Do we need mods in every language? We're trying to lower the number of needed mods, or at least cap it.
  • Where would Lingustics & Writers fit in, if anywhere?
  • EL&U is a graduated site—does that change things?
• A bunch of the computing-related sites
  • Especially the programming related (we have SO, Programmers, Theo. CS, Code Review, Code Golf)
• Literature + SFF
• Answers.OnStartups + Project Management
• Math + Stat

I'm not arguing that these merges need to take place, or that they even should (some of them would severely redefine site scopes—what I'm trying to make evident here is that fact that we seem to be creating a bunch of tiny sites rather a few large sites, which is why SE worked in the first place (SO allowed all programming languages, regardless of popularity; SF & SU allowed all platforms).

I'm also not saying that we need to be doing something, but we should definitely consider more site integration. And if any of the sites get near failing, osmosis into another could be a way of rescuing them. Anyway, that's outside the scope of this question.

Of course, if we were to do these merges, than the main question wouldn't really be a problem. So the two topics are linked after all.

This post picks up a tangent of the main question. I wrote it up before realizing that it's really its own thing.

For that matter, we don't need 71 sites. Let's take a quick look at some of the merges that are theoretically possible.

The following lists are only hypothetical. If we were to consider a merge, I believe that a referendum should be put to all affected sites, let alone any problems that we may face with each particular set of sites.

• Religion and Spirituality, incorporating Christianity, Jewish Life and Learning, Islam (A51), Hinduism (A51), Buddhism (A51), the closed Atheism, and all other religions
  • Why? Think of why SO succeeded—C and Pascal have little to do with each other; it's the fact that we let all things code related onto SO that SO succeeded.
  • Downsides: Religions tend to be more controversial, thus leading us to need more mods + people are more likely to ragequit; also, do we admit atheism/agnosticism;
• Languages, incorporating EL&U, French, German, Japanese, and all other languages
  • A lot of languages share roots
  • Might allow limited translation to thrive
  • Downsides: Do we need mods in every language? We're trying to lower the number of needed mods, or at least cap it.
  • Where would Lingustics & Writers fit in, if anywhere?
  • EL&U is a graduated site—does that change things?
• A bunch of the computing-related sites
  • Especially the programming related (we have SO, Programmers, Theo. CS, Code Review, Code Golf)
• Literature + SFF
• Answers.OnStartups + Project Management
• Math + Stat

I'm not arguing that these merges need to take place, or that they even should (some of them would severely redefine site scopes—what I'm trying to make evident here is that fact that we seem to be creating a bunch of tiny sites rather a few large sites, which is why SE worked in the first place (SO allowed all programming languages, regardless of popularity; SF & SU allowed all platforms).

I'm also not saying that we need to be doing something, but we should definitely consider more site integration. And if any of the sites get near failing, osmosis into another could be a way of rescuing them. Anyway, that's outside the scope of this question.

Of course, if we were to do these merges, than the main question wouldn't really be a problem. So the two topics are linked after all.

This post picks up a tangent of the main question. I wrote it up before realizing that it's really its own thing.

For that matter, we don't need 71 sites. Let's take a quick look at some of the merges that are theoretically possible.

The following lists are only hypothetical. If we were to consider a merge, I believe that a referendum should be put to all affected sites, let alone any problems that we may face with each particular set of sites.

• Religion and Spirituality, incorporating Christianity, Jewish Life and Learning, Islam (A51), Hinduism (A51), Buddhism (A51), the closed Atheism, and all other religions
  • Why? Think of why SO succeeded—C and Pascal have little to do with each other; it's the fact that we let all things code related onto SO that SO succeeded.
  • Downsides: Religions tend to be more controversial, thus leading us to need more mods + people are more likely to ragequit; also, do we admit atheism/agnosticism;
• Languages, incorporating EL&U, French, German, Japanese, and all other languages
  • A lot of languages share roots
  • Might allow limited translation to thrive
  • Downsides: Do we need mods in every language? We're trying to lower the number of needed mods, or at least cap it.
  • Where would Lingustics & Writers fit in, if anywhere?
  • EL&U is a graduated site—does that change things?
• A bunch of the computing-related sites
  • Especially the programming related (we have SO, Programmers, Theo. CS, Code Review, Code Golf)
• Literature + SFF
• Answers.OnStartups + Project Management
• Math + Stat

I'm not arguing that these merges need to take place, or that they even should (some of them would severely redefine site scopes—what I'm trying to make evident here is that fact that we seem to be creating a bunch of tiny sites rather a few large sites, which is why SE worked in the first place (SO allowed all programming languages, regardless of popularity; SF & SU allowed all platforms).

I'm also not saying that we need to be doing something, but we should definitely consider more site integration. And if any of the sites get near failing, osmosis into another could be a way of rescuing them. Anyway, that's outside the scope of this question.

Of course, if we were to do these merges, than the main question wouldn't really be a problem. So the two topics are linked after all.

This post picks up a tangent of the main question. I wrote it up before realizing that it's really its own thing.

For that matter, we don't need 71 sites. Let's take a quick look at some of the merges that are theoretically possible.

The following lists are only hypothetical. If we were to consider a merge, I believe that a referendum should be put to all affected sites, let alone any problems that we may face with each particular set of sites.

• Religion and Spirituality, incorporating Christianity, Jewish Life and Learning, Islam (A51), Hinduism (A51), Buddhism (A51), the closed Atheism, and all other religions
  • Why? Think of why SO succeeded—C and Pascal have little to do with each other; it's the fact that we let all things code related onto SO that SO succeeded.
  • Downsides: Religions tend to be more controversial, thus leading us to need more mods + people are more likely to ragequit; also, do we admit atheism/agnosticism;
• Languages, incorporating EL&U, French, German, Japanese, and all other languages
  • A lot of languages share roots
  • Might allow limited translation to thrive
  • Downsides: Do we need mods in every language? We're trying to lower the number of needed mods, or at least cap it.
  • Where would Lingustics & Writers fit in, if anywhere?
  • EL&U is a graduated site—does that change things?
• A bunch of the computing-related sites
  • Especially the programming related (we have SO, Programmers, Theo. CS, Code Review, Code Golf)
• Literature + SFF
• Answers.OnStartups + Project Management
• Math + Stat

I'm not arguing that these merges need to take place, or that they even should (some of them would severely redefine site scopes—what I'm trying to make evident here is that fact that we seem to be creating a bunch of tiny sites rather a few large sites, which is why SE worked in the first place (SO allowed all programming languages, regardless of popularity; SF & SU allowed all platforms).

I'm also not saying that we need to be doing something, but we should definitely consider more site integration. And if any of the sites get near failing, osmosis into another could be a way of rescuing them. Anyway, that's outside the scope of this question.

Of course, if we were to do these merges, than the main question wouldn't really be a problem. So the two topics are linked after all.

This post picks up a tangent of the main question. I wrote it up before realizing that it's really its own thing.

For that matter, we don't need 71 sites. Let's take a quick look at some of the merges that are theoretically possible.

The following lists are only hypothetical. If we were to consider a merge, I believe that a referendum should be put to all affected sites, let alone any problems that we may face with each particular set of sites.

• Religion and Spirituality, incorporating Christianity, Jewish Life and Learning, Islam (A51), Hinduism (A51), Buddhism (A51), the closed Atheism, and all other religions
  • Why? Think of why SO succeeded—C and Pascal have little to do with each other; it's the fact that we let all things code related onto SO that SO succeeded.
  • Downsides: Religions tend to be more controversial, thus leading us to need more mods + people are more likely to ragequit; also, do we admit atheism/agnosticism;
• Languages, incorporating EL&U, French, German, Japanese, and all other languages
  • A lot of languages share roots
  • Might allow limited translation to thrive
  • Downsides: Do we need mods in every language? We're trying to lower the number of needed mods, or at least cap it.
  • Where would Lingustics & Writers fit in, if anywhere?
  • EL&U is a graduated site—does that change things?
• A bunch of the computing-related sites
  • Especially the programming related (we have SO, Programmers, Theo. CS, Code Review, Code Golf)
• Literature + SFF
• Answers.OnStartups + Project Management
• Math + Stat

I'm not arguing that these merges need to take place, or that they even should (some of them would severely redefine site scopes—what I'm trying to make evident here is that fact that we seem to be creating a bunch of tiny sites rather a few large sites, which is why SE worked in the first place (SO allowed all programming languages, regardless of popularity; SF & SU allowed all platforms).

I'm also not saying that we need to be doing something, but we should definitely consider more site integration. And if any of the sites get near failing, osmosis into another could be a way of rescuing them. Anyway, that's outside the scope of this question.

Of course, if we were to do these merges, than the main question wouldn't really be a problem. So the two topics are linked after all.

This post picks up a tangent of the main question. I wrote it up before realizing that it's really its own thing.

For that matter, we don't need 71 sites. Let's take a quick look at some of the merges that are theoretically possible.

The following lists are only hypothetical. If we were to consider a merge, I believe that a referendum should be put to all affected sites, let alone any problems that we may face with each particular set of sites.

• Religion and Spirituality, incorporating Christianity, Jewish Life and Learning, Islam (A51), Hinduism (A51), Buddhism (A51), the closed Atheism, and all other religions
  • Why? Think of why SO succeeded—C and Pascal have little to do with each other; it's the fact that we let all things code related onto SO that SO succeeded.
  • Downsides: Religions tend to be more controversial, thus leading us to need more mods + people are more likely to ragequit; also, do we admit atheism/agnosticism;
• Languages, incorporating EL&U, French, German, Japanese, and all other languages
  • A lot of languages share roots
  • Might allow limited translation to thrive
  • Downsides: Do we need mods in every language? We're trying to lower the number of needed mods, or at least cap it.
  • Where would Lingustics & Writers fit in, if anywhere?
  • EL&U is a graduated site—does that change things?
• A bunch of the computing-related sites
  • Especially the programming related (we have SO, Programmers, Theo. CS, Code Review, Code Golf)
• Literature + SFF
• Answers.OnStartups + Project Management
• Math + Stat

I'm not arguing that these merges need to take place, or that they even should (some of them would severely redefine site scopes—what I'm trying to make evident here is that fact that we seem to be creating a bunch of tiny sites rather a few large sites, which is why SE worked in the first place (SO allowed all programming languages, regardless of popularity; SF & SU allowed all platforms).

I'm also not saying that we need to be doing something, but we should definitely consider more site integration. And if any of the sites get near failing, osmosis into another could be a way of rescuing them. Anyway, that's outside the scope of this question.

Of course, if we were to do these merges, than the main question wouldn't really be a problem. So the two topics are linked after all.