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This question is asking a question that can easily be answered by reading the resources from the well known resources (FSF and OSI).

I think such a question is a FAQ regarding Free Software and Open Source. Are FAQs on-topic on this site?

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    Thanks for moving the discussion to Meta.
    – Mnementh
    Jun 25, 2015 at 12:28

2 Answers 2

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FAQs are generally considered on-topic on every site,* and I see no reason why they shouldn't be here. That doesn't mean they're good questions, but the commonness of a question or the lack of research shown doesn't impact their on-topicness. If you keep at least one version of each common question around then they also serve as good duplicate targets, and there's always the possibility that an answer might be written on it which is genuinely better than anything available anywhere else on the internet.

*(One exception being English Language & Usage, but that is an exceptional site, with dozens of questions being asked every day which can be trivially answered through looking at any dictionary.)

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As I asked the question I was fully aware of the answer. Still I asked, to show that the focus of this site can go beyond questions about licensing.

So, the answer could be googled, but that doesn't mean everyone does. In reality many have unclear concepts about open source although it is well defined and easily googleable. Look at the discussions about CC-NC and CC-ND.

So in reality people miss concepts and they aren't even aware that the answer may exist in public resources. Some SE-sites have in their description if they are for professionals or enthusiasts or both, we haven't that this clearly defined. Professionals should know this, enthusiast or people interested not, so which user-groups do we want to include?

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    People who from their question make clear that they didn't even read the Wikipedia articles about Free Software and Open Source are not welcome. Reading these articles is not what I would call "professional" but what an interested person should do before asking a question.
    – user114
    Jun 25, 2015 at 12:50
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    Well, that's the question, is this site for professionals alone, or for enthusiasts too? It's up to us to define that.
    – Mnementh
    Jun 25, 2015 at 13:01
  • It is for enthusiasts, too. But it is not for ignorant people how are not willing to do basic research.
    – user114
    Jun 25, 2015 at 13:05

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