Ask Ubuntu

Ask Ubuntu is a community-driven question and answer website for the Ubuntu operating system. It is part of the Stack Exchange Network, running the same software as Stack Overflow.[2]

Ask Ubuntu
Screenshot of Ask Ubuntu, December 2013
Type of site
Question & Answer
Available inEnglish
OwnerStack Exchange, Inc.
Created byCommunity-authored
URLhttps://askubuntu.com/
Alexa rank1,026[1]
CommercialYes
RegistrationOptional; Uses OpenID[note 1]
(Required to track reputation)
LaunchedOctober 2010
Current statusOnline

Members gain reputation based on the community's response (through voting) to their questions and answers. Reputation signifies trust for users in the answers they give. Privileges are given based on reputation levels, with users with the highest reputation having similar privileges to moderators.[3] All the user-generated content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license.[4].

The site came out of public beta on 10 October 2010, launching alongside Ubuntu 10.10.[5]

As of March 2019, Ask Ubuntu has about 678,000 registered users[6] and more than 317,000 questions.[7]

History

Ask Ubuntu came into existence as a "Proposed Q&A site for Ubuntu users and developers" on the Stack Exchange Area 51.[8][9] With other Internet users supporting the proposal of the site through "commitment", Stack Exchange chose to launch Ask Ubuntu in private beta. Eventually, the site came out of public beta with the name Ask Ubuntu, which was chosen through a community voting process, and was launched alongside Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat in October 2010.[5]

Despite the Stack Exchange policy against fragmentation,[10][11] after deliberation and voting, Ask Ubuntu was allowed to continue alongside a separate 'Linux and Unix' site.[12]

Ask Ubuntu has received help from Canonical Ltd., which has allowed the site to use their trademark. Canonical Ltd has also helped in the designing of the site, ensuring that Ask Ubuntu's theme follows the Ubuntu brand guidelines.[13]

Format

The website allows the users to ask and answer questions. The users are given the ability to vote the questions and answers up or down. They can also earn reputation points and "badges" for their various contributions to the site. For example, a person is rewarded with 10 reputation points if their answer for a question receives an "up" vote.[14]

All users can submit edits to the questions and answers in a wiki style, with having their suggested edits go through a peer review process. Users with 2,000 reputation points or more can edit the questions and answers directly, without having their edits go through a similar peer review process. Some posts are designated as "community wiki", which have a lower reputation requirement for editing.[15]

Ask Ubuntu has two sub-sites: a "meta" where users can ask and answer questions about the site itself, and a set of real time chat rooms as part of the Stack Exchange network of sites.[16]

Notes
  1. Whole Stack Exchange network uses the same accounts, however, each site tracks reputations separately.
gollark: Also that we can't really do that elegantly.
gollark: And I said that this was an abuse of power.
gollark: Strictly speaking, yes...
gollark: I cannot.
gollark: ++tel status

References
  1. "Statistics from Alexa". Alexa Internet. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  2. Ask Ubuntu - About
  3. "Frequently Asked Questions". Ask Ubuntu. Archived from the original on 17 October 2010. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  4. Atwood, Jeff (2009-06-25). "Attribution Required". Stack Overflow Blog. Archived from the original on 2018-10-18.
  5. Humphrey, Benjamin (October 2010). ""Ask Ubuntu" Stack Exchange site out of beta, new awesome domain". OMG! Ubuntu!. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  6. "Users". Stack Exchange. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  7. "Questions". Ask Ubuntu. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  8. Sneddon, Joey (July 2010). "Vote now for an awesome new Ubuntu help platform". OMG! Ubuntu!. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  9. Stack Exchange - Ubuntu Proposed Q&A site for ubuntu users and developers
  10. "Merging Season". Stack Overflow. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  11. "Unix and Ubuntu: Why Both?". Stack Overflow. Archived from the original on 26 October 2010. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  12. "Fork it!". Stack Overflow. Archived from the original on 4 November 2010. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  13. Canonical Design - This week in design – 8 October 2010
  14. "FAQ: What is Reputation?". Stack Overflow. Archived from the original on 17 October 2010. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  15. "Privileges". Ask Ubuntu. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  16. "Stack Overflow Chat Now Live". Stack Overflow. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
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