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I was looking for a source of potential questions, found one, and asked it. Then I recognized a lot of the other questions on this page (and don't bother, they're all gone now :)

The site itself is under CC-BY and they explicitly say sharing is OK. I also presume that license is compatible with the here at Open Source.SE.

So this is not a shot at the people who brought all those great questions across. But I think we need a policy discussion about this. Some other sites might not have a compatible license.

I'd also point out that many of those FAQ's consist of a single sentence, the questioners had to flesh them out with explanatory scenarios.

What does the panel think?

3 Answers 3

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4

Questions shouldn't be copied exactly. A google search with proper SEO (Search Engine Optimization) would bring them first. It's not appropriate to bring them here, it would be blatant plagiarism, done while knowing, and it's wrong.

I'm not against similarly worded questions, as they provide relevant and useful content for the site. However, for questions and quotes, make sure that you attribute.

-1

I vote against this. The information's already out there. The point of Stack Exchange is not to become an encyclopedia of knowledge that people can easily access. I think there's a canonical Meta post to that effect, but I can't find it.

If the questions was asked, I would vote to close on the basis of "lac of research". The answer is at (y)our fingertips.

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  • Well, one answer is at your fingertips, from the POV of that organization. What about the answers from other people?
    – kdopen
    Jun 27, 2015 at 0:38
  • @kdopen Wouldn't the faq be about that organization?
    – HDE 226868
    Jun 27, 2015 at 0:39
  • Nope, follow the link
    – kdopen
    Jun 27, 2015 at 0:46
  • @kdopen Well, I was wrong about that. My sincerest apologies. I still stand by the idea that information is easy to get to, though.
    – HDE 226868
    Jun 27, 2015 at 0:46
-2

While the purpose of a private beta is to fill the site with useful and helpful information I see no reason for there to be any issue with the source of the question, providing the user legitimately wants an answer to help them gain knowledge.

1
  • And provided that the original source of the question has a compatible licence (not copyright, not copyleft).
    – trichoplax
    Jun 27, 2015 at 0:46

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