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I realize the forum is not out of beta yet, and that splitting might not help it to become so.

BUT, I have noticed an increase in the number of developers asking for s/w recommendations, whereas at the start it was all end-users just asking for applications. In fact, I use it myself since S.O & programmers long ago banned "opinion based" questions and recommendations.

Is there enough functional distinction to justify a split, or should we stay with a single site (for the time being)?

[Update] a pity about all of the downvotes. Are you saying "I don't like the idea of a split"? Or "there is something wrong with this question"?

If the former, I am not demanding a split, hardly even suggesting it, rather merely encouraging discussion of an idea that I had.

If the latter, could you,please, (as, IMO, all down-voters should) take a few seconds to tell me what is wrong with the question and how I can improve it? Thanks.

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    There's no real mechanism for a 'split' If you really must, you could try and see if there's enough enthusiasm for a developer centric SR site on A51
    – Journeyman Geek Mod
    Commented Jan 28, 2015 at 10:03
  • I don't "really must" and it is probably too late now. I have a personal preferences, I must admit, for a one shop go-to place for s/w development tools & components, but I doubt that that applies to many. I just thought that I would throw this out there and see what others think. Thanks for your feedback.
    – Mawg
    Commented Jan 28, 2015 at 10:28
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    Related discussions: Is it alright to ask for programming tools? / Where do questions about software development software belong to?
    – unor
    Commented Jan 29, 2015 at 8:26
  • The downvotes are not because people think the question is bad, it is because they think the idea is bad. (ie it is the former) You can't improve the question -- there is nothing wrong with it. Downvotes are different in Meta softwarerecs.stackexchange.com/help/whats-meta The help says voting is different on feature requests, but in practice it is different on anything the looks like a feature request (especially discussions.)
    – Frames Catherine White
    Commented Feb 1, 2015 at 5:14
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    Also using the word "Forum" is a pet hate of many stack exchangers. This is not a Forum, it is a QA site. It is no more a Forum than it is a Wiki or a Blog.
    – Frames Catherine White
    Commented Feb 1, 2015 at 12:55
  • Ah! Maybe that explains the downvotes. Sorry, a slip of the fingers there. Back in the day, S.O was vaguely foum-formed, with wonderful tags like "best-practise", and even "books". Of course, I understand how things are now. Does anyone know of an encompassing SO-like forum where such questions are permitted? I dislike having to post to many individual fora.
    – Mawg
    Commented Feb 2, 2015 at 9:21

2 Answers 2

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There is already Code Recommendations on Area51.
This is the sort of thing that you are suggesting.

I would say that there should be no split. The site seems to be working pretty well as it is.

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  • Thanks for the feedback. Code Recommendations is a "Proposed Q&A site for programmers seeking the best library for specific tasks", so no good for seeking developer tools, but still a useful site. I agree that there is no point in splitting this site; I just wanted to hear what others thought.
    – Mawg
    Commented Jan 28, 2015 at 13:23
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I'd vote no to splitting the site. As of now, we aren't having any trouble handling both "user-oriented" and developer recommendation requests. From what I can see, this will be quite scalable, as most people that find the site will generally be technically competent.

If at some point is becomes obvious that we have two distinct communities (users and developers) within the site, with little to no overlap between them, then I might consider the idea of splitting the site. For right now and for the foreseeable future, though, it's not an issue as far as moderation is concerned.

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