Hot answers tagged

11 votes
Accepted

Is it allowed to request software that breaks a service's terms of service (TOS)?

We do not enforce agreements between third parties - and we shouldn't set that precedent. You're free to downvote, comment, and refrain from answering, but it's unlikely that any moderation action ...
Undo's user avatar
  • 4,276
10 votes
Accepted

Are recommendations for programming tutorials/resources on topic?

No, they are not. While such content is valuable, it needs its own set of criteria for distinguishing good questions and good answers. We focus on stuff that can be executed on computers, "software", ...
Angelo Fuchs's user avatar
  • 3,040
9 votes
Accepted

Can/should we recommend software that might be illegal (at some places)?

It is irrelevant whether software is/can be illegal, because that is defined by local authorities. As a user, I can't determine where an asker lives and which laws he should follow. Furthermore, any ...
DJCrashdummy's user avatar
  • 1,636
9 votes
Accepted

Random inappropriate necro-deletion of decent, helpful, upvoted answer

What you don't see is the six other poor quality and sometimes actually spammy answers there. Granted its a video conversion question, and they attract spammers. You're not one. Awesome. We've ...
Journeyman Geek's user avatar
8 votes
Accepted

Is asking for lists of software welcome?

Definitely not: Questions provoking list-type answers are frowned upon at all SE sites Our help center lists several list-type questions as explicitely off-topic – a.o. "there is no actual problem to ...
Izzy's user avatar
  • 18.8k
8 votes
Accepted

Asking questions about potentially "bad" software?

helping someone with a task that could turn out to be, somewhat of a malicious task, is that something we should answer here in our community? “That could turn out to be (…) malicious” is not a ...
Gilles 'SO- stop being evil''s user avatar
7 votes
Accepted

Are questions regarding password cracking on-topic?

Yes, such questions are on-topic as long as they fulfill our usual requirements. there are legitimate uses of password crackers, e.g. when you have forgotten your own password or when testing the ...
Thomas Weller's user avatar
7 votes

"Have things changed?" questions

At least up to now, we deal with this the same way your second paragraph indicates (bounty even has a special entry for that, and usually draws more attention than a "plain question"). I'd say if the ...
Izzy's user avatar
  • 18.8k
7 votes

Do we consider "beta invites by email" valid answers?

Yes, it is completely fine, so long as the other requirements for a quality answer are met. However, just because it should be allowed, do not mean it is going to be a good answer. Answering with it ...
Frames Catherine White's user avatar
6 votes

Are recommendations for programming tutorials/resources on topic?

Short answer No. TL;DR As Gilles already pointed out in his comment: SR is about recommending software matching specific requirements – and not "general resources", tutorials, howtos, or websites. ...
Izzy's user avatar
  • 18.8k
5 votes

Random inappropriate necro-deletion of decent, helpful, upvoted answer

While I see your point of "no warning before" – I also see the point of the mod deleting the post. I'm not a mod; if I had "pushed that button" you'd have gotten a warning in advance (and a chance to ...
Izzy's user avatar
  • 18.8k
4 votes

Is it on topic to ask where to download specific drivers?

Summing up from the comments, to make clear this is "answered": In a similar question (Is asking for the canonical location of source code on-topic?) we "ruled": We aren't your search engine. ...
Izzy's user avatar
  • 18.8k
4 votes

Random inappropriate necro-deletion of decent, helpful, upvoted answer

Everyone else has already covered the pertinent points here, so I'm going to try to give a little context for this (not in strict chronological order, though): Way back in the beginning of the site, ...
Undo's user avatar
  • 4,276
4 votes

Random inappropriate necro-deletion of decent, helpful, upvoted answer

This deletion was entirely appropriate. Before accusing others of being “rogue”, please take a minute to inform yourself about our site. The fact that the answer had been around for a while changes ...
Gilles 'SO- stop being evil''s user avatar
3 votes
Accepted

Is my question permitted (saved game editor)?

We don't, and shouldn't attempt to, enforce civil agreements between third parties or laws of any country. It's impossible to do consistently and accurately - turns out there are lots of countries ...
Undo's user avatar
  • 4,276
3 votes

Is it allowed to request software that breaks a service's terms of service (TOS)?

Youtube prohibits downloading videos or converting them to mp3 AFAIK and youtube-dl is very popular software that does that. The OP could argue that he wants to use it on websites other than youtube ...
Lynob's user avatar
  • 2,140
2 votes

Is asking for lists of software welcome?

One guideline I like is: Write your question, as if you expect that these is only one solution. While you might know of 3 or 4 programs that almost do what you want. or that you think might do what ...
Frames Catherine White's user avatar
2 votes

Are questions regarding password cracking on-topic?

Knowledge is always good, whether learning how to crack passwords, how to write malware, how to do phishing. Maybe you are a computer security student, or an ethical hacker. Maybe you are just curious....
Lynob's user avatar
  • 2,140
1 vote

Should I flag answers that contain multiple, independent solutions?

As we want software recommendations (instead of merely software mentions), an answerer that has multiple solutions in mind would ideally compare these solutions, and recommend when to use which. I ...
unor's user avatar
  • 7,820

Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible