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There is a question in SO that was closed by a moderator as "offtopic", however the question is indeed valid. The topic has a very limited audiency so it is unlikely that "more than 3 users with 3k+ rep" will ever see the question. What to do in a case like this to get the question re-opened?

Edit: Just for clarification, "Windows Embedded CE" may refer either to the Operating System or to the development environment that integrates to Visual Studio and can be used to modify and produce a customized version of the Windows CE OS. The question I mentioned refers to the second case.

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@YOU Suppose I ask in SO: Should I install visual studio service pack 1 before installing service pack 2? Will this be a valid question in SO? If it is, then the question I am refering to is also valid. –  yms Apr 23 '11 at 16:40
Yeah, I agree with @YOU - it's not on-topic. But the answer is right - flag it and a moderator can review the decision given new information. And, it's best to edit it so it's really obvious why it's on topic. –  NickC Apr 23 '11 at 16:42
@YOU By the way, for what it matters, a user with 29k rep also thinks the question is valid. You can see it in the comments. –  yms Apr 23 '11 at 16:42
No, your example is off-topic. –  YOU Apr 23 '11 at 16:42
The only argument I see is that it should have been closed as "Too localized". Does that really matter? –  Uphill Luge Apr 23 '11 at 16:47
@YOU: Build tools are definitely on-topic on Stack Overflow (from the FAQ: "software tools commonly used by programmers" and "matters that are unique to the programming profession"). The more so with make variants as make is a language. –  dmckee Apr 23 '11 at 17:11
@YOU: I only mostly sure I've parsed that question. If he wants help installing an OS, that seem to be off-topic. –  dmckee Apr 23 '11 at 17:15
@dmckee He is asking for help installing a development environment, not an OS, but according to YOU this is also off-topic in SO. –  yms Apr 23 '11 at 17:27
@yms: YOU is crazy - dev tool questions are most certainly on-topic for SO. Hans may be right regarding "too localized" though - given that the user's question is answered on the download page for the tool in question, it's kinda hard to believe there's any point to answering the question on SO... (then again, it's kinda hard to believe someone would even bother to ask it... and that actually happened) –  Shogging through the snow Apr 23 '11 at 18:36
@yms: I think part of the problem may be that it doesn't read that way to me (and I'm treating myself as a standing for a random person not familiar with the topic). If that is really the question it should be edited for clarity and re-opened. –  dmckee Apr 23 '11 at 18:37
@Shog9, Just a note. I didn't say that dev tools are off-topic on SO. I replied to yms that "I think 'ant' questions are on topic, IMHO, but I am not sure about 'nmake'". But that does not mean that I meant "nmake" is off topic there. –  YOU Apr 23 '11 at 19:43

1 Answer 1

up vote 5 down vote accepted

If you think it is indeed valid,
- Edit the question so it is appropriate (It is closed, not deleted)
- Then flag for a moderator.

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To be clear, edit it to show you're talking about the development toolchain not the OS. –  user149432 Apr 23 '11 at 17:14
Actually it is not even my question, so I do not want to change it completelly. I asked this question here in meta because I have seen many (valid?) closed questions from low rep users before, but I did not know about meta.so at the time. I just wanted to call the attention on the issue and learn how to treat it. Thanks for your help. –  yms Apr 23 '11 at 17:26
@yms: no! no no no no noooooo... If you see a question, especially a closed question, where the text is unclear and likely to cause confusion (or active causing confusion), please edit to clarify it! You don't need to change it completely - just edit it so that it can be found and answered, or be helpful to others. Always, always err on the side of providing a useful question - the author can always rollback/re-edit if you get something wrong, but a closed/unanswered question doesn't do anyone any good. See how easy it is? –  Shogging through the snow Apr 23 '11 at 18:32

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