Why are almost half the questions on the front page marked "closed"?

Question

I peek into Programmers Stack Exchange every once in a while and I keep noticing a pattern: there are a whole lot of [CLOSED]-marked questions. What is behind this?

• Are people unclear on what is or is not on-topic for this Stack Exchange sub-board?
• Are the permissible questions simply too narrow in scope?

In either case, what can be done to make the front page look a little less uninviting? The way it looks now, a first-time or infrequent visitor will just see Programmers Stack Exchange as an unwelcoming place to ask questions.

Answer 1

1. Are people unclear on what is or is not on-topic for this Stack Exchange sub-board?

   Oh yeah. The scope effectively made a 90° turn a few weeks into the beta, and it was a friggin' freight train already in terms of popularity and support even then.

2. Are the permissible questions simply too narrow in scope?

   Not really. But we're kinda trying to turn a biker bar into a tea room without kicking out the bikers first; doesn't really matter what we say the scope is.

Answer 2

I don't think it's "half". I've told you a million times to stop exaggerating.

And there is some value in seeing closed questions, because..

1. People understand there are rules and norms, this is not some kind of "I can do whatever I want" place. So if what you want is anything goes, you might keep on moseying along to the next town.

2. People get a sense of why questions are closed, because every closed question links to the reason behind the closing, e.g.

   closed as not constructive by Macneil, Mark Trapp, bigown♦ 3 hours ago

   This question does not meet enough of our six guidelines for constructive subjective questions.