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IE Web Development Support Moving to Stack Overflow

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Re: IE Web Development Support Moving to Stack Overflow

#31

Post by farmdve »

sajt wrote: post #7
kayman wrote: post #2

Microsoft making a lot of moves that are starting surprise the tech community. it will take some time to convert the generation that grew up with the old closed microsoft, but slowly I believe they will have converts.

I think Stack Overflow has been getting worse and worse in recent years. Their community is outright hostile to active discussion. Only directly answerable questions are tolerated. Microsoft is (as always) a few years late to the party.

I agree. Considering most people with IE will be regular computer users and not power users, I can see their questions being downvoted to oblivion and their questions closed.

I consider myself a power user and I already have one account that was "suspended" due to too many downvoted questions of mine.

Re: IE Web Development Support Moving to Stack Overflow

#32

Post by px1999 »

Given the nature and content of the specific forum, and that SO is built on a largely microsoft tech stack, moving it to SO makes sense.

Still an interesting move from Microsoft. Projects hosted on github, open source, versions of the .NET runtime for mac and linux, embracing docker, node.js and avoiding getting in fights over front end frameworks... this really seems like they're trying to turn a new page.

Re: IE Web Development Support Moving to Stack Overflow

#34

Post by brudgers »

dfar1 wrote: post #30

"With over 40-thousand questions tagged "Internet Explorer", and dozens more asked every day, it has proven to be a great place to find reliable help." The announcement makes it seem that they are proud of how many questions are out there about IE issues.

Questions are the product of an engaged user base.

Re: IE Web Development Support Moving to Stack Overflow

#35

Post by hueving »

camdenre wrote: post #29
hoodoof wrote: post #24

Such a bad idea. The format of StackOverflow is very tightly defined. I bet all support questions don't fit that format. Then what? StackOverflow should speak up against companies doing this.

I'm guessing StackExchange is partnering with them in this move.

Definitely. It was created by Jeff Atwood who is a very "pro-Microsoft" figurehead in the .NET community so there was probably a lot of collaboration in this move.

Re: IE Web Development Support Moving to Stack Overflow

#36

Post by hueving »

brudgers wrote: post #34
dfar1 wrote: post #30

"With over 40-thousand questions tagged "Internet Explorer", and dozens more asked every day, it has proven to be a great place to find reliable help." The announcement makes it seem that they are proud of how many questions are out there about IE issues.

Questions are the product of an engaged user base.

Excessive questions are the product of a UX nightmare.

Re: IE Web Development Support Moving to Stack Overflow

#37

Post by lelandbatey »

fredley wrote: post #10
sajt wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think Stack Overflow has been getting worse and worse in recent years. Their community is outright hostile to active discussion. Only directly answerable questions are tolerated. Microsoft is (as always) a few years late to the party.

I am a mod on a similarly hostile StackExchange site. The community has always been outright hostile to active discussion (outside of chat, the area of the site for specifically this) for all but a brief period when it was still working out what it was. The fact it's hostile to active discussion is part of what enables it to continue to be a useful resource. That's not to say Stack Overflow isn't without its problems…

Yeah, I agree. I think it's actually fantastic that they focus so narrowly on answerable questions. It's still a super useful resource, and a tight focus means it will probably be able to stay on track for a long long time.

However, I wish there was a place as fantastically focused on good discussion.

Re: IE Web Development Support Moving to Stack Overflow

#38

Post by zanny »

px1999 wrote: post #32

Given the nature and content of the specific forum, and that SO is built on a largely microsoft tech stack, moving it to SO makes sense. Still an interesting move from Microsoft. Projects hosted on github, open source, versions of the .NET runtime for mac and linux, embracing docker, node.js and avoiding getting in fights over front end frameworks... this really seems like they're trying to turn a new page.

This might just be another embrace phase. They have been cyclical in the past. If they were to get a large portion of market share on their proprietary tech platforms they would certainly move to lock in their users and cripple the open platforms they are now adopting. They are only restarting the cycle because they are losing ground.

And I'm not coming at this from a malicious Microsoft angle, they are just in the same league as Adobe and Oracle in that they maximize revenue by dominating markets and crushing competition to force users onto their proprietary platforms. It is inherent to how their principle earning divisions operate.

Re: IE Web Development Support Moving to Stack Overflow

#39

Post by dragonwriter »

mathattack wrote: post #33

Wow - is this a massive pivot for Stack Overflow? A new revenue model?

No, Google and other vendors have done this with a number of things (shifting support channels to SO) over the last few years. Its not a shift for SO. It might be a shift for Microsoft, though.

Re: IE Web Development Support Moving to Stack Overflow

#40

Post by Renaud »

dfar1 wrote: post #30

"With over 40-thousand questions tagged "Internet Explorer", and dozens more asked every day, it has proven to be a great place to find reliable help." The announcement makes it seem that they are proud of how many questions are out there about IE issues.

As of just now:

* tag [internet-explorer]: 27,934 questions

* tag [google-chrome]: 28,153 questions

Since the number of questions is your metric for attributing shame, that surely imply that chrome is much worse than IE, especially considering the long legaccy and larger install base of IE vs Chrome...

Or, I don't know, could it be possible that the number of questions reflects more than just how bad a piece of software is?

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