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I love the new Quack Overflow. My coworkers noticed the yellow friend in the corner of their screen, explained their problems and got their solution. Or, well, at least found the source of their problems and were able to ask a better question on the correct SE site.

They don't ask me about their syntax errors or undefined behaviour anymore, which on the one hand makes my job easier but on the other hand takes a little bit of my job security. But I'm willing to risk that just to get away from yet another "why doesn't this work" question.

The omniscient duck is really helpful. However, it gets a little bit loud in the office. Everyone now talks to their screens, the air is filled with semantic and syntactical errors, some weep at the epiphany, others outright scream in disbelief that a small piece of plastic knows so much. A vortex of sound circles around and I fear that my boss will ban the use of the tool and we'll be back to square one.

Therefore, can we get a private Quack Overflow duck that accepts keyboard inputs? Or add a telepathic penship mode where users write their thoughts on paper? Otherwise I might end up as our office rubber duck again if this marvellous tool gets banned :(.

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  • 9
    Quack Overflow for Enterprise?
    – Journeyman Geek
    Commented Mar 31, 2018 at 10:24
  • 5
    @JourneymanGeek I think will be called Quack Overflow Teams. It's on-premise installation gets shipped via container ship of IoT-ready rubber ducks, directly connected to the quantum engine that drives Quack Overflow. Ready in 2020.
    – Zeta
    Commented Mar 31, 2018 at 10:25
  • ...*sigh*...
    – ashleedawg
    Commented Mar 31, 2018 at 11:00
  • I am worried, too, because even after I say I don't have a microphone, it still asks me to speak and then goes "QUACK!"
    – Someone
    Commented Mar 31, 2018 at 15:16
  • Welcome to April Overflow :)
    – Arun Vinoth PrecogTechnologies
    Commented Apr 1, 2018 at 18:07
  • Actually, although you cannot give the duck keyboard input through the UI, you can through the API, which is at apis.quakoverflow.stackexchange.com
    – John Militer
    Commented Apr 1, 2018 at 19:52
  • @JohnMiliter There is no API documentation :(. Also, can I use SOAP with the ducky?
    – Zeta
    Commented Apr 1, 2018 at 20:40

2 Answers 2

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Or add a telepathic penship mode where users write their thoughts on paper?

It works. You just need to think louder. No louder than you are now. YES. THAT LOUD! LIKE YOUR INTERNAL CAPSLOCK IS STUCK.

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    Alternately, employ duck typing
    – Journeyman Geek
    Commented Apr 1, 2018 at 5:02
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Try M-x ducktor in a reasonably recent Emacs.

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    Not everyone uses Emacs at our place. Most of them use ed. There's probably an ed-mode that simulates ed in Emacs, but our Doors 11 does not work well with new application installations. But all of us use the SE network to some extent…
    – Zeta
    Commented Mar 31, 2018 at 10:47
  • 4
    @Zeta In ed, use the ⚕ command. ed will prompt you with ? to tell you that it's listening. Alternatively, depending on your animal preferences, try the cat command.
    – Gilles 'SO- stop being evil'
    Commented Mar 31, 2018 at 13:25
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    You can use emacs emulation in ed. The key sequence is q return ctrl-a delete delete e m a c s return. Do not do this in ed emulation in emacs or you may be transported to an alternate universe.
    – Harper - Reinstate Monica
    Commented Mar 31, 2018 at 15:02

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