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The question http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7730308/list-of-ruby-vms was closed as not constructive.

The OP had done their homework and listed the ones he'd found (15).

The question didn't ask for people to say which VM was better than any other, just which VMs exist, so it wasn't subjective or argumentative. Subjective and argumentative was given as a problem with "List of X" in Should we have a "List of X" close reason?

Is a "List of X" that doesn't mention anything subjective still inappropriate?

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3  
You'll have to excuse me, I see no use in being anything but blunt. Some questions just have no place on SO, and that one seems to fit the bill quite nicely. –  user7116 Oct 12 '11 at 2:19
5  
Does anybody ever ask for a "worst list of X"? "Best" is almost always implied even if not explicitly stated. –  Anna Lear Oct 12 '11 at 2:58
    
@AnnaLear: That's not a common question but it has been asked before (at its core). –  Jeff Mercado Oct 12 '11 at 3:09

1 Answer 1

up vote 11 down vote accepted

not constructive

This question is not a good fit to our Q&A format. We expect answers to generally involve facts, references, or specific expertise; this question will likely solicit opinion, debate, arguments, polling, or extended discussion.

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How is it a poll? –  Andrew Grimm Oct 12 '11 at 2:19
    
2  
@Andrew, the community has chosen (correctly in most cases, I believe), to see "poll" as synonymous with "survey". –  Michael Petrotta Oct 12 '11 at 2:27
    
"Is it always the fault of the questioner that the answers suck? Do they deserve all the blame for the fact that people with nothing useful to say want to participate anyway and bring their reddit-style “tweets” into the answers?" - it's not you, it's me. :( –  Andrew Grimm Oct 12 '11 at 2:34
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These kinds of questions attract suck answers. That's part of the reason they're not constructive. –  Robert Harvey Oct 12 '11 at 2:36
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Another reason is that many such "lists" are not guaranteed to be complete at any point in time, but rather include only the "best" or "most familiar" instances, which is why they are "not a good fit to our Q&A format." –  Peter O. Oct 12 '11 at 3:01
    
Where is the correct place for the "community" to discuss this and for members of the community to vote they disagree? –  studgeek Jan 9 '13 at 21:17
    
You're in the right place, @studgeek; Meta is meant for this kind of discussion. You may be on the right page, as a matter of fact, depending on what argument you want to put forward. Be sure to look around first, though - chances are what you want to talk about has been discussed before. –  Michael Petrotta Jan 9 '13 at 22:37

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