this post was submitted on 28 Jun 2023
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You Should Know

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founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Why you should know: StackOverflow is facing a mod strike in a similar way as Reddit's mod strike. They are doing this in response to StackOverflow's failure to address it's promises and provide moderation tools

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[–] [email protected] 63 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Unlike Reddit, Stack Overflow would probably be better without moderators.

In fact, you could easily replace Stack Overflow mods with a script that goes into every new question, comments "USE THE FUCKING SEARCH BAR" and locks the thread.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I don't think so: Stack Overflow requires much more moderation for the comments and answers to actually stay on topic and be somewhat professional. Especially the "don't just link somewhere, explain the thing" rule might require a lot of moderation.

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[–] damnYouSun 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Replace them with a script that goes into every comment and put "duplicate of existing post".

Even if there is no existing post.

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[–] [email protected] 45 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Thank you for posting this. I had no idea this was going on. What are companies thinking when they implement policies that hamper volunteers? You'd think they'd want to engage, and keep happy, these people that give their time.

[–] [email protected] 29 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Companies don't even care beyond bare minimum for the labor that they pay why would they care about the labor they don't lol

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago

"What are companies thinking"

It turns out I actually have the ability to convert thoughts to text for any company CEO or Board Member. So allow me to post an excerpt of what I've found:

"moneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoneyiwishepsteinwerestillheremoneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoney"

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

What are companies thinking when they implement policies that hamper volunteers?

"Money!"

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Duplicated, here's a link to a totally unrelated question made 10 years ago that didn't got any answer anyway.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

OMG these responses drive me bananas. I'm searching for a code solution and I keep landing on "Duplicated" dead ends with dead end links posted as the solution. Why do they leave it just sitting there?? WHY????

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Fun fact: the stack exchange for research mathematics, MathOverflow, is a separate 501(c)(3) nonprofit which at any time can pack up their stuff and migrate, including their domain name and all of their data, per the agreement they made when they joined the stack exchange network in 2013, originally operating the site themselves since 2009.

https://meta.mathoverflow.net/questions/969/who-owns-mathoverflow/970#970

While the MathOverflow site is operated by Stack Exchange, Inc., the domain and the MathOverflow name are owned by the MathOverflow corporation. The MathOverflow corporation is completely independent from Stack Exchange and its mission is to ensure the continued operation of the site in a manner that meets the needs and expectations of the community.

Subject to Section 8, should MathOverflow wish to migrate its data outside of the Stack Exchange network, Stack Exchange shall, within thirty (30) days of receipt of a written request from MathOverflow, provide MathOverflow with a complete and current database that contains all the data necessary to recreate MathOverflow on MathOverflow's own servers and software. Following such transfer, Stack Exchange will cease all use of the MathOverflow database.

If they don't like how the site is being run, they can leave. Food for thought. If all communities on the internet were so careful and prescient to plan an exit strategy in advance, to make clear that you just operate our site and we can leave for a competitor, we'd not be in this mess.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

If only /r/AskHistorians were this prescient.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If all communities on the internet were so careful and prescient to plan an exit strategy in advance, to make clear that you just operate our site and we can leave for a competitor, we’d not be in this mess.

That's why God invented the GPL.

[–] WheeGeetheCat 16 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Me: Good for them, that's great hope they get want they want.

Me, to myself, in bed at night: Oh god how will I code

[–] httpjames 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

At least we have readily available AI tools to help

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago (4 children)

I really hope protesting social media/websites owner's BS becomes a regular practice

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I agree, but on the other hand if we moved to decentralized platforms no strikes would be necessary. People only do this, because a company is holding their content as a hostage.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

Striking will just be replaced with defederation. For example lemmy.world has been defederated by a bunch of instances because it allows anyone to sign up for an account.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 29 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Closed: This question has already been answered 5 years ago here <link to completely unrelated question>

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago

Better yet: "this question has been answered here <link to old question, answer does not work/doesnt apply or work anymore>"

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Found that out today too

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Is there a FOSS alternative to stackexchange yet?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (3 children)

All open source forum software pretty much

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Ironically StackOverflow was formed to solve the problem of every language or tech stack being in their own forums, IRCs, and mailing lists, numbered in the bazillions and non-indexed.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Dammit it's AI again. What can I say. It's been causing more destruction of things I care about, and all I see from AI is scams and impersonations.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This actually reminds me of a book by Charles Stross called Accelerando. Human explorers during a time in which people upload their minds to computer systems travel to (and this part is fuzzy in my memory), a world orbiting a brown dwarf. The world is just a giant computer and it's inhabited almost entirely by superintelligent banking scams and viruses. It turns out that almost all "life" in the universe is like this, just parasitic AI that serves no real purpose other than to fuck over other people for short-term gains. Anyway, I've been thinking about that book more and more in recent years.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago

good for them. Organizing and taking action is the only way to get capitalists to listen

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago

Thankfully SO is better than Reddit: the frontend is actually decent and even though they're pausing data dumps, everything posted is technically CC-SA

[–] priapus 8 points 1 year ago

Check out Codidact for a community run alternative!

[–] gonzo0815 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (17 children)

Unpopular opinion: for a beginner, ChatGPT gives way better answers than stackoverflow users. The advantage of ChatGPT is that I can command it to dumb it down. Stackoverflow users are used to answer in a language that resembles the language in documentations. They are dry, abstract, lack good examples to the point that the "foobar" shit triggers an immediate defensive reaction in my brain and are phrased for people who already understood a concept but need to refresh their knowledge. Their core problem, as is tradition in any IT field, is that they lack the empathy to understand the viewpoint of someone who understands less of something than they do. It's like asking someone to teach you reading and getting a poem with the advice to just read it as an answer.

I can circumvent that via ChatGPT by asking it to ELI5. Also, I get an answer instantly, am not discouraged to ask further questions and not advised to read a link where a solution is offered in an equally difficult language.

People are saying that using ChatGPT doesn't give accurate information and fails to convey important concepts, but I feel it's actually the other way around. Since there is ChatGPT, I'm making way more progress than before.

I understand that users don't want AI answers, but I also don't get why anyone would want that on this platform. You can just, you know, use AI directly.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That's not unpopular. But there is a problem. ChatGPT can answer your questions mostly because it was trained on the posts and answers of sites like StackOverflow.

If people abandon SO and similar forums then the quality of ChatGPTs answers will go down too.

Especially with something like programming. It's always changing. Next year there will be new versions of C++ and python. There will be new JS frameworks as always. It doesn't stand still.

And without new discussions about new problems, there's nowhere for ChatGPT to learn about them.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I think that one issue with using AI to help you solve programming problems is that sometimes it will wholesale make things up. Of course, people can do that too, which is why communities of coders can vote on the best answer. I say, more power to you, using the tools that work for you. Just be cautious.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

The key with ChatGPT for me has been taken use it as an augmentation, not a gap fill. There's some prerequisite knowledge required on my part. It's a much more useful tool when it's helping flesh out something I know, but have forgotten, or am familiar with, but not proficient. That means I find mistakes faster, and am less prone to having it loop or hallucinate. If I need to ask a question about something where I know very little or nothing at all, I'll peek at a Wikipedia page or something first if I can.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

Instead of hoping that the corporation will change, they should just move to the fediverse.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Always surprised by companies outsourcing all their moderation to unpaid volunteers and then act shocked when they’re ready to pause their work.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Fuuuuuuuuuuck. Welp. That's it. The internet is closed for business. Thanks for stopping by

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