Why "the best choice" or "possible options" questions are always downvoted [duplicate]

Question

Every time I am starting to work in a new programming field, I have a lot of questions, obviously. I am usually able to find answers on various forums or to figure them by my own.

Once in a while there is a question that I would definitely prefer to ask here, in SE, to know and learn from all this vast accumulated experience.

However each time when I am trying to ask a question like "what are the possible tools/ libraries/ frameworks / ways to do so and so", I am downvoted very quickly and the question is closed.

I think the whole purpose of SE is to share not our knowledge but first and foremost our experiences. Knowledge I can find anywhere: in books, in tutorials, in manuals. But to hear from somebody who already have tried, had got his hands "dirty" and can save others a lot of time by sharing it - why not?

EDIT: I know the rules, and I try not to ask such questions here, but I just don't understand why.

If somebody can tell others "I worked with this tool, it's good for so and so", or "this tool is very unstable and lack such and such options" - why not??

Really, folks, look on the most upvoted questions: for example, what is the difference between decimal float and double

So if I am lazy (as obviously most of us are) and instead of reading the book, I am going to SO to ask, it's OK.

However if I want to ask something much less trivial, though still of public interest like who have the experience with these or other tools and what his/her experience was, it is not OK?

Pity that 's SE attitude. There is a huge difference between opinion and experience

Answer 1

I think the whole purpose of SE is to share not our knowledge but first and foremost our experiences

It is both to share knowledge and experience, but it is not for discussions. Knowledge and experience can be shared without having discussions.

Lists of tools or other list questions have multiple problems: they get outdated and the posts turn into popularity contests. The questions tend to be broad and subjective as well.

So these are off topic.

Of course, you can try asking in the relevant chat room. Discussion is encouraged in chat.

Answer 2

I think it is because many people combine the closure vote with the downvoting, depending on how bad the question is. Naturally, there are also people who are simply downvoting due to the lack of interesting for closure or the privileges for that.

In general, it is not so much productive, and people, including me, prefer to concentrate on objective issues rather than opiniated since there cannot be that much disagreement in there.

See the help center for details:

Questions asking us to recommend or find a tool, library or favorite off-site resource are off-topic for Stack Overflow as they tend to attract opinionated answers and spam. Instead, describe the problem and what has been done so far to solve it.

and

Questions which are too broad, unclear, or primarily opinion-based may be put on hold by the community until they are improved.

Answer 3

I share your sense of perplexion. Here's is what I have arrived at, after grappling with it for some time.

Some questions beg for single correct answers. The SE or SO culture has evolved to be especially adept at obtaining and presenting answers to these kinds of questions. There are other questions that inherently admit multiple satsifactory answers. Some of those answers may be better than others, but it's a subjective judgement.

Many questions have the form, "I tried X in order to achieve Y but I got Z instead. What should I be doing?" There is usually one answer that's good enough for the questioner and probably pretty good for the next person who finds the question and the answer based on a search. SO and SE excel at this kind of question.

Questions about design or methodology often allow for multiple answers. Design and methodology questions are often anything but trivial. And many good projects have gone down the toilet because of poor design or methodology choices. These questions often call for mentoring rather than simple answers. And that's where the problem comes in.

Mentoring, in a medium such as this, can often degenerate into discussions. And avoiding open ended discussions has been a goal of the keepers of the flame in here as long as I've been participating.

I think this explains the why of the downvotes and the closings. It doesn't address the question of how we meet the need for good mentoring. My suggestion is that there needs to be a whole different website that's devoted to those kinds of issues (notice that I called them "issues" rather than "questions"). SO and SE needs to be kept for Q&A that's short, clear, crisp, and conclusive.