
Show HN: We are building a home for questions too subjective for Stack Overflow - StuieK
Hey guys,<p>Would really appreciate some feedback on a site we are working on that deals with programming/tech questions with no definitive answer.<p>The concept is that while there may be no definitive answer to "Best X for Y", knowing the pros/cons of the different options and their use-cases is useful when making a decision.<p>We also took a different approach to Q&#38;A and went very collaborative, so one person doesn't have to write everything and we can improve/update it over time.<p>Thanks!<p>www.slant.co
======
peeters
I do think there's a gap that you can fill here, if you do it carefully. I
think you're also liable to go down the same road of Stack Overflow in the
pursuit of quality control.

So let me ask you this: what makes a bad question on Slant? I was in the
suggested questions and I found the following question that I think would be
good for a discussion.

The question in question: WHAT IS THE BEST OS TO RUN ON A RASPBERRY PI? (an
aside: you might want to use an all-caps font rather than forcing titles to
upper case. I just copied and pasted that title)

So my first question is: is that question a good fit for your site? I think we
can both agree that without context, there's no answer to that question. Not
just that it's subjective, but that there isn't even enough to inform your
subjective opinion.

That's all fine and good if the point is to list pros and cons of the options.
Maybe I should view each viewpoint as an analysis in and of itself. The
viewpoint on Raspbian will say it's good for general-purpose stuff, etc.

But then what are the upvotes _actually_ measuring? It's not fitness for a
specific purpose, it's just popularity, right? And how do I choose something
as "best", when I myself might argue that three options are "best" given what
I'm trying to do?

~~~
logn
! This question has been closed as being too constructive. As it currently
stands, this question is not a good fit for our argumentative format. We
expect answers that can't be supported by facts, references, or specific
expertise, but this question will likely solicit objective facts, statistics,
and definitive answers. If you feel that this question can be improved and
possibly reopened, see the FAQ for guidance. !

You could just scrape SO to find all closed questions. Remember me when you're
rich.

~~~
StuieK
:) Great idea. Thank you mate. Any other feedback on the site?

------
cewawa
Good idea. I often have questions where I'd like to canvas the views of other
developers. Given the popularity of a lot of closed questions on SO, I'm
guessing I'm not the only one.

Don't much like the drill-down aspect. When you click on a question
(/topics/blahblah), I'd rather see one long single-column page with everything
on it. The Select Viewpoint nav bar could stay with you, as you scroll, for
convenience.

~~~
StuieK
> Good idea.

Thank you!!

I see where you're coming from with the drill down. The tradeoff we had to
make is to handle these types of topics:

<http://slant.co/topics/what-is-the-best-programming-font>

Where there are only a little bit of text and mainly overviews.

And these types of topics:

[http://slant.co/topics/what-is-the-best-architecture-for-
bui...](http://slant.co/topics/what-is-the-best-architecture-for-building-a-
web-service/opinions/rest)

That are more long form. It's hard to create a view to handle both use-cases,
but we will definitely try as you're right that it would be better.

> The Select Viewpoint nav bar could stay with you, as you scroll, for
> convenience.

Will test that, thanks!

------
ubojan
I really like the idea behind this website, there are few interesting topics.
One suggestion: in "Select viewport" section add number of upvotes for each
viewport (so you don't have to click on every viewport to see number of
upvotes).

~~~
StuieK
>I really like the idea behind this website, there are few interesting topics.

:) Thanks mate.

> One suggestion: in "Select viewport" section add number of upvotes for each
> viewport (so you don't have to click on every viewport to see number of
> upvotes).

If you hover over the piechart you can see what % votes each got. But I do
like that idea as well, a little more obvious. Will put it on the to-do.

------
StuieK
Clickable link: <http://www.slant.co>

------
orangethirty
Its a great idea, but the UI seems a bit confusing. I got lost in there.

~~~
StuieK
Also: [http://slant.co/topics/best-resources-for-startups-to-
learn-...](http://slant.co/topics/best-resources-for-startups-to-learn-about-
pr/opinions/marketing-bits)

Thanks for writing all that, very helpful.

~~~
orangethirty
Oh, how nice of you. Thank you.

------
kstenson
Stackexchange already has a site that is for these kind of questions:
<http://programmers.stackexchange.com/>

------
misterunicorn
Cool site! Would love it if you had a topic on finding the cheapest
international shipping rates.

------
applebug60
I really like the design.

~~~
StuieK
:) our front-end dev who learnt design while on the job just said "woot, thank
you"

------
codegeek
fails miserably to render in IE8. I like the idea btw.

~~~
StuieK
I know :( really sorry about that, we are working on browser compatibly ASAP.
Any chance you can check it out on another browser?

~~~
codegeek
no worries. Not at home right now where I use Firefox/Chrome. IE8 is a forced
requirement :) for another 2-3 hours. will check it out later today.

~~~
StuieK
Thanks!

------
onlyup
Shame about the name being a derogatory term.

~~~
StuieK
Does it make you think straight away that the content is biased? We are more
going for objective reasons for your Viewpoints.

~~~
peeters
I think OP was more referring to "slant" being an offensive term for Asian
people. I don't find it _(the domain name)_ offensive, but I'm not Asian (and
I've never heard an Asian person called that before).

Personally I think you make things worse if you say that people can't use a
term for its non-offensive meaning because it's also used in an unrelated,
derogatory way. At that point you're simply promoting using the term for its
offensive purpose.

~~~
StuieK
Oh, thanks for clarifying!

