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[UPDATE - Maintenance complete]

We have planned maintenance that will impact Stack Overflow and Stack Exchange sites. The ​​window is scheduled for Saturday, February 24th, 2024, 14:00 - 22:00 UTC (9 AM - 5 PM EST).

During the maintenance window, Stack Overflow and Stack Exchange sites (including chat and SEDE) may go into read-only or maintenance mode for brief periods, lasting no more than a few minutes each. We’ll update the post when the maintenance window closes. Thank you for your understanding.

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    Purely out of curiosity, could you share what the maintenance is?
    – cocomac
    Commented Feb 14 at 23:39
  • 35
    You (the company) used to share what the maintenance would be doing, and go into technical detail about it. For the 3rd time, we no longer get that information.
    – Ismael Miguel
    Commented Feb 15 at 21:11
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    @IsmaelMiguel Maybe an effect of layoffs? I have seen many non-priority things go unmaintained/undone in the last year (talking in general, not StackOverFlow)
    – froblesmartin
    Commented Feb 19 at 15:48
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    Looking back through the [maintenance] tag, it looks like there hasn't been a particularly verbose maintenance announcement since 2022. I'm not aware of a specific shift in policy, but I think it is emblematic of the company's current level of transparency.
    – AMtwo
    Commented Feb 20 at 19:13
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    If there are any updates during a maintenance window that will change the site experience (UI changes, new feature, etc.), we'll be sure to note that in the maintenance window announcements, but anything that is internal-only (software updates, hardware upgrades, etc.) will not be detailed as it's just that - maintenance.
    – Dalmarus StaffMod
    Commented Feb 22 at 17:03
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    @Dalmarus That might be the company's plan going forward, but it is a significant departure from how things were handled in the past. The Community LOVES getting details about maintenance. IMHO, maintenance descriptions were always a SITE FEATURE and not just an announcement. When the policy changes, the change doesn't get messaged, and then the response to a question doesn't acknowledge the change....it feels like gaslighting.
    – AMtwo
    Commented Feb 22 at 20:08
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    @Dalmarus I'm tempted to create a new Meta question for discussion around this change in policy, in an attempt to help the community understand the change, or for the company to understand the need. Is that a conversation that the Company would engage in? Or would the company response simply be a restatement of the current policy?
    – AMtwo
    Commented Feb 22 at 20:16
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    @Dalmarus -- At least we can agree that it would be futile to try to engage with the company in an honest, meaningful discussion on this change in policy. The company's refusal to engage with community members on these topics related to transparency is the antithesis of "Community." Stonewalling by repeating the policy without engaging in conversation is 100% contrary to the company's core values.
    – AMtwo
    Commented Feb 23 at 18:21
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    @Dalmarus ...I'm not trying to be a douche (though, probably doing a great job at that!)... I just really don't understand the change in policy over the last ~year, and this being yet another case where there is such tight-lipped lack of transparency is infuriating to community members. It goes much further at burning bridges than building them.
    – AMtwo
    Commented Feb 23 at 21:04
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    @AMtwo The main reasons are two-fold: 1) Maintenance is just that - maintenance. Explaining every single thing that goes on internally within any company is not how things work. 2) My sole job is not maintenance liaison. It's a small fraction of my role and as many people are aware, we have limited resources and need to focus our efforts on higher priority issues. I can genuinely appreciate the time you took in the past to explain everything that was going on during a maintenance, but that's not the best use of the limited time I have available for my main job.
    – Dalmarus StaffMod
    Commented Feb 24 at 15:43
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    @AMtwo So when it comes to determining what to spend X amount of time on, routine internal maintenance explanation posts are not going to make the cut in that list because it's a "nice to know" rather than a "need to know". As I stated previously, anything affecting the community will be noted, but anything that doesn't, won't.
    – Dalmarus StaffMod
    Commented Feb 24 at 15:49
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    Shouldn't there be an answer saying it's been completed and a "status-completed" tag? The answer would be an opportunity for a graceful summary of what work has been done.
    – Andrew Morton
    Commented Feb 24 at 18:27
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    I find it pointless to just throw "hey, we are doing something and the site might be down for a short while", while refusing to give even bit of details, with the dry and boring "this is the new company policy: keep it all secret" message. But still, it just reflects the overall terrible change the company went through in the last years, so useful in a way, I guess.
    – Shadow Wizard
    Commented Feb 24 at 20:21
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    @AndrewMorton I had the same thought (and even mentioned it internally), but then I looked at maintenance and noticed that you'll only find one occasion in all of meta where we marked a maintenance announcement that way (there are 8 search results, but 7 of them are not announcements).
    – Aaron Bertrand Staff
    Commented Feb 25 at 15:22
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    Yeah, [status-completed] is usually only used with bug reports and feature requests, not really for maintenance winows and such.
    – V2Blast
    Commented Feb 27 at 0:21

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