Discussion of non-Debian OS's in the forums

[MALsPa]

Moving threads related to other operating systems to Offtopic is fine and should be no big deal.

Too bad there isn't a section for "Other Linux Distributions" or "Other Operationg Systems." Or a section for each of those.

The description under "Offtopic" says, "If it doesn't relate to Debian, but you still want to share it, please do it here." Some folks might think, "Well, my question is about Ubuntu, and Ubuntu is Debian-based, so my question relates to Debian and it doesn't belong in 'Offtopic.' "

The description under "Beginner's Questions" says, "New to Debian (Or Linux in general)? Ask your questions here!" That might invite non-Debian questions in that section.

[MeanDean]

Maybe those that wish to help others with sudux, ubutnut, crashbang should go be a member of those communities and contribute positively to them..Especially the forums since some users are unable to receive good support ergo they feel a need to come here for it.

just a thought....

The other option is to allow this forum to become a dumping ground. A place with so many posts it is aggravating just trying to look through them to help someone. Then the forum can be known as the place where you often do not get an answer and/or your new post is buried so quickly that nobody sees it.

It should do miracles for the boards capacity to provide a knowledge pool. I can't wait for someone to google about XYZ and find a thread that has little to nothing to do with debian but since it is on the debian forum it must work okay. So they try it and the next thing you know debian sucks because it is so easy to break. All they did was install rpm and use it to install some gtk stuff from rpmfind.net just like the thread talked about at the debian forums.

Here lately it seems a lot of posts are ubutnut spammy flavored. I actually wonder if it isn't a prank to rile up the debian folk. I think a bunch of distro hoppers have finally discovered debian and think we want them to compare it to every other distro out there and provide feedback. It might be okay if they could compare something besides 'flash works' and 'it has a pretty splash screen' and 'how come my piece of shit hardware isn't working'

well....you knew I had to say something....

I still recall one of my very first visits to this forum....maybe my first.... A thread was posted asking for help with another distro. I remember thinking wtf, why would anyone do that. The thread was quickly locked. I do recall discussion of other distros being allowed though.

[jheaton5]

Here lately it seems a lot of posts are ubutnut spammy flavored. I actually wonder if it isn't a prank to rile up the debian folk. I think a bunch of distro hoppers have finally discovered debian and think we want them to compare it to every other distro out there and provide feedback. It might be okay if they could compare something besides 'flash works' and 'it has a pretty splash screen' and 'how come my piece of shit hardware isn't working'

well....you knew I had to say something....

You really did good until right there at the end.

I agree with you. The quality of the debian forums and the quality of debian is no accident. This quality had to be built in and cultivated to be where it/we are today. I don't want this forum to become like the ubuntu forums where newbies are helping newbies providing reckless, dangerous and simply wrong solutions. I'm for minimizing the amount of other distro discussion here. After all, I would never go to the ubuntu forums to find an answer to a debian issue. Let these folks go to their own distro's forum.

[nadir]

ok , now that that is clear: can we go on with Socrates and the horse?
As long that is possible i am happy.

[smallchange]

I don't particularly like having people ask questions about other distros but I like the idea of more rules even less. The rules already exist and people ignore them and post anyway. So now what can be done about it? Maybe you can create a rule that anyone who responds to a post about another distro gets banished?

In case there is any doubt that is sarcasm. It is a really terrible idea, like most rules.

[julian67]

burn the unbeliever.

[debil]

Me 'umble opinion: Move the guilty thread to Offtopic. Let people either help, ignore or scold. If it gets out of hand, lock it. "Other OS's" section is better off habiting /dev/null.

[4D696B65]

"Other OS's" section is better off habiting /dev/null.

+1

[mzilikazi]

I think we can continue to move those threads to offtopic but also perhaps change the guidelines to at least mention our policy on other OS's. This way there is nothing to argue since it was agreed to when said user signed up. What isn't addressed is the fact that Ubuntu is not Debian and I wouldn't care to see improper advice given without due warning.

[Absent Minded]

I think we can continue to move those threads to offtopic but also perhaps change the guidelines to at least mention our policy on other OS's. This way there is nothing to argue since it was agreed to when said user signed up. What isn't addressed is the fact that Ubuntu is not Debian and I wouldn't care to see improper advice given without due warning.

This sounds reasonable to me. I am not sure what to do about those that think Ubuntu, Crunchbang, Mint, Sidux, etc. are Debian though. Maybe we could give an "(ie...)" in the guidelines as to what is not Debian. Of course, this still doesn't make them read the guidelines but it does give better footing for members and staff alike.

My main concern was that I needed to be clear on our position so I can properly handle threads of this nature (ie. I didn't want to be telling people that it is okay to ask questions about other distros in offtopic if we in fact have a poloicy against it).