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Freely available programming books

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Re: Freely available programming books

#21

Post by honzzz »

lists wrote: post #11
derefr wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It occurs to me--I don't think there's any real "social site" focused on making lists. The closest things we have are social bookmarking tools--but those have a ranking algorithm that highly weights novelty , causing the front page to resemble a stream of ephemeral content mixed with periodic reposts of evergreen content. --- How could we improve on this? [Anyone who wants to do the following is welcome to; I've too…

Letter grades from A - F would be a good idea. Their meaning and use has been ingrained since childhood.

> Letter grades from A - F would be a good idea. Their meaning and use has been ingrained since childhood.

In many countries A - F grading system is not commonly used. For example in the country where I was born they use 1 - 5 grading system and A - F means nothing. I think rating with stars is much more widespread and would be wiser choice for any project with global ambitions.

Re: Freely available programming books

#22

Post by kevin_rubyhouse »

derefr wrote: post #10
HoLyVieR wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that the Q&A format is a very bad to ask for list of things. A "wiki" would be a much better format to have list of things that everyone can contribute to. Q&A is also a very bad format for discussion. Traditional forum, Reddit or Quora are much better choice for discussion. It's a simple mater of using the best tools for the best job.

It occurs to me--I don't think there's any real "social site" focused on making lists. The closest things we have are social bookmarking tools--but those have a ranking algorithm that highly weights novelty , causing the front page to resemble a stream of ephemeral content mixed with periodic reposts of evergreen content. --- How could we improve on this? [Anyone who wants to do the following is welcome to; I've too…

It seems like it would be hard to find additional content after the easier targets are taken up. Once people have put up lists of what they find useful, new lists or useful additions to the list wouldn't appear every day. It might be a good curated reference, but I have a hard time seeing an active community based around it. Maybe you need to expand the scope of the site idea?

Re: Freely available programming books

#23

Post by finnw »

dinkumthinkum wrote: post #14
robomartin wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with many of your points. Some of the StackExchange sites have degenerated into being virtually unusable unless you align yourself with the small group of people who viciously down-vote and close otherwise useful and relevant questions. The idea is/was great, but in some corners it seems to be starting to derail.

Yes, you have to agree with the groupthink or you are basically an outcast. That said, I think it is still very useful. I mean on some level I think it's sort of stupid. The original idea always centered around SO being a blog for programmers that don't really blog; at least that was what was constantly talked about. However, any question or answer that contains any semblance of personality is struck down or edited t…

> The original idea always centered around SO being a blog for programmers that don't really blog; at least that was what was constantly talked about.

I used to listen to the early podcasts and I never got this impression. As far as I can tell SO has always been run much the same way - aimed at getting the top google hit for direct questions like "how do I make my button transparent." For the most part they are succeeding. Questions like "list of freely available programming books" have always been outliers.

Now that they are not allowed at all, maybe the old ones should be hidden instead of being shown as "locked."

StackExchange is an SEO company, not your blog hosting company. Just because you find a topic interesting does not mean it is their job to host your discussion/poll/list-of-lists etc. for it.

Re: Freely available programming books

#24

Post by Toenex »

eduardordm wrote: post #6

"This question exists because it has historical significance, but it is not considered a good, on-topic question for this site" This is sad. We need to set stack exchange free. The community failed in creating a free and open environment for asking and answering questions: A place where information may be categorized but never restricted even if it's bad. To be bad it must exist first, if you restrict the existence o…

Yes I often find myself wishing that, at the user level at least, USENET was still all pervasive. However, that is probably remembering the past a little more fondly that I should. Joel even talks a little about the comparison here [http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2011/01/the-wikipedia-of-long-...].

Re: Freely available programming books

#25

Post by linker3000 »

dinkumthinkum wrote: post #15
martinced wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've got 7K+ rep there (hardly a high-score) but I don't really like the site anymore due to arbitrary behavior of mods. It wasn't even a "discussion" (specifically forbidden because independent thoughts and points or view are something frowned upon on SO, which is bent on crushing individuality)... Just a friggin' good list. The really pathetic behavior of SO mods starts when they see people criticizing SO (and leav…

Yeah, I have similar feelings. I have more rep and at the time my usage dipped it was a fairly high number, but far less than people like Jon Skeet. I stopped answering and engaging a few years ago. It just seemed like at some point enough LRH (or JA, if you like) tech was disseminated on the site that even very good participants on SO that dared to have different opinions were relegated to SO's version of RPF or jus…

Your post pretty much echoes what I could say about my time at Super User - I made it to about 13K before realising I was expected to play by JA's rules or shut up - so I 'quit' about 14 months ago.

Re: Freely available programming books

#26

Post by robomartin »

finnw wrote: post #23
dinkumthinkum wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, you have to agree with the groupthink or you are basically an outcast. That said, I think it is still very useful. I mean on some level I think it's sort of stupid. The original idea always centered around SO being a blog for programmers that don't really blog; at least that was what was constantly talked about. However, any question or answer that contains any semblance of personality is struck down or edited t…

> The original idea always centered around SO being a blog for programmers that don't really blog; at least that was what was constantly talked about. I used to listen to the early podcasts and I never got this impression. As far as I can tell SO has always been run much the same way - aimed at getting the top google hit for direct questions like "how do I make my button transparent." For the most part they are succe…

For some reason I don't see SO as having degraded as much as some of the other SE properties.

Re: Freely available programming books

#27

Post by orangethirty »

dinkumthinkum wrote: post #16
orangethirty wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nuuton will allow you to have the ability to discuss such subjects directly without such policies. You may even discuss the actual stackoverflow site if so desired (or the book homepages).

Interesting, I'm not familiar with that. The fact is SE sites have such a large user base and for the most part I'm not sure the problems it has are significant enough to give much room to new players, unless it is something really remarkable.

It does not compete with SE, because its a search engine. But it does allow for people to discuss items on SE without the friction they create (as an example). You can also do so with other site (actually, all sites).

Re: Freely available programming books

#28

Post by insteadof »

linker3000 wrote: post #25
dinkumthinkum wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I have similar feelings. I have more rep and at the time my usage dipped it was a fairly high number, but far less than people like Jon Skeet. I stopped answering and engaging a few years ago. It just seemed like at some point enough LRH (or JA, if you like) tech was disseminated on the site that even very good participants on SO that dared to have different opinions were relegated to SO's version of RPF or jus…

Your post pretty much echoes what I could say about my time at Super User - I made it to about 13K before realising I was expected to play by JA's rules or shut up - so I 'quit' about 14 months ago.

Your username seems familiar. Are you also the same linker3000 who was outside of the shipping district for some of Jeff Atwood's personal free stuff he happened to use Super User to give away to? http://meta.superuser.com/questions/3720/three-free-video-ca... You left shortly after that. Were those the rules you're talking about?

Re: Freely available programming books

#29

Post by insteadof »

Garoof wrote: post #20
fayden wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's been said every time this argument is brought up: StackOverflow is a Q&A website. It's not meant for discussions, and while some interesting questions get closed, it's not arbitrary at all.

"We expect answers to be supported by facts, references, or specific expertise, but this question will likely solicit debate, arguments, polling, or extended discussion." He's asking for free books about programming. When someone answers with a book, it's super-easy to verify that it is a book, is about programming, and is free. It might be a bad fit for SO because there isn't one answer that is "more correct" than a…

It at least definitely leads to polling. Everyone and their capuchin being able to just throw in theirs as a legit answer. When there is no chance for a canonical answer at all, that's a bad question.
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