Today,
Jeff Atwood and
Joel announced a new company/service called
stackoverflow.com. Both of their blogs discuss it at length.
Here's an excerpt from Joel:
"When [programmers] can't figure something out, they type a question into Google. And sometimes, the first result looks like it's going to have the answer to their exact question, and they are excited, until they click on the link, and discover that it's a pay site, and the answer is cloaked or hidden or behind a pay-wall, and you have to buy a membership.And you won't even get an expert answer."
But what programmers is he talking about? Is this Python where numerous experts are happy to help you any time at #python? Or Ruby where I can get expert feedback on a dozen different sites within a few hours? Or Rails, where you can watch
100+ free screencasts from an expert on how to implement a myriad range of functionalities?
I can't help but think it's no coincidence that two developers (btw, incredible developers who I respect greatly) from the Microsoft/.NET community are the ones who are behind this.
Yes, it is hard to get answers and there are still some sites that charge money (
experts exchange) but these are almost inevitably for Microsoft technologies.
I have been on both sides and I think it's a ton easier to solve problems on the open source side. I really do hope this venture works but I don't know why it's really needed outside of the .NET community.
Thoughts?