3

An extreme example to illustrate.

Let's say we have a valid question about Antartica versus the same question about New York:

  • Antartica: bigger than a country, so it doesn't fall under loo lozalized, but I doubt there are many programmers there besides a few researchers

  • New York: has a very high population density and a lot of programmers, but falls under the "too localized" rule because it's smaller than a country.

Hence I suggest that "too localized" would be more accurate if it used the size of the target population instead of arbitrary geographical areas.

7
  • 3
    Isnt this the obvious intention/meaning of 'too localized'? ie, that it applies to too few people.
    – GrandmasterB
    Jan 25, 2011 at 5:38
  • I used to think so, but it's taken so literally sometimes, it might be interesting to edit the guidelines to highlight the intention of the rule.
    – wildpeaks
    Jan 25, 2011 at 8:57
  • Which guidelines are you referring to? There's nothing I can see in the FAQ that says this.
    – Jon Hopkins
    Jan 25, 2011 at 9:32
  • @Jon I think he's talking about the description of the close reason in the "vote to close" popup.
    – Adam Lear StaffMod
    Jan 25, 2011 at 16:07
  • @GrandmasterB: the question is what constitutes too few really.
    – WinstonChurchill
    Jan 27, 2011 at 13:04
  • 1
    @Anna Lear: Right; the close reason mentions area, time, and situation, not number of programmers. Perhaps this should be changed.
    – David Thornley
    Feb 8, 2011 at 18:48
  • Many questions that mention a specific geographic area are off-topic anyway, because they ask about labor law, job hunting and similar topics not specific to programming.
    – user281377
    Jul 10, 2011 at 7:16

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
4

I think too localized meaning here is not bound only to rules you mention (size of a country).

I guess too localized means the question will not be applicable to the majority of developers.

So geography is not always the main reason.

14

Stop abusing "Too Localized." That is meant to close questions that are so specific to a particular place and time that they can only possible benefit the poster, or questions which would be obsolete in a matter of seconds. Just because there is a location in a question doesn't mean it's too localized.

Every question doesn't have to be relevant to every participant on this site. There are plenty of questions on stackoverflow.com about obscure tools that only a few programmers use, and they are fine. That's why questions about a particular geography with only a few programmers in it do not have to be closed as long as they are going to be beneficial to someone else who finds this question later.

Classic example of too localized: "Why is there a Green Honda Civic parked on my block right now?" Or, "Has the latest version of OS-X shipped yet?"

0
2

I just got a UK specific question closed as too localised, which annoyed me a lot. Bigger than New York in both numbers of programmers and size.

Let's put a number/size on it.

10000 people (programmers and the like) in the locality.

2
  • 1
    And then we get the comment wars about whether 9000 or 11000 programmers will find the question useful, and whether this is total population or people who come to p.se. I don't think I want to see a specific size.
    – David Thornley
    Feb 8, 2011 at 18:49
  • 3
    Ok, I see your point. But do we want to be able to post questions that are, for example, UK-specific? After all there are loads of questions tagged GIT, but there are, I suggest, many more UK-programmers than there are GIT users.
    – WinstonChurchill
    Feb 9, 2011 at 9:30

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .