Should Hard maths on viXra? be reopened?
Is it appropriate for the site?
Why or why not?
The most substantial comment on why the post should be closed was quid's last, so we may as well record it here: the question has the potential to become a crank magnet. (Other than that, the comment thread at MO has gotten heated without much accompanying light, although I don't think the question in its current form is at fault. Added later: katz added a comment mirroring quid's, that just as we delete what people call 'spam', so questions about what are effectively spam depositories should probably not be allowed to appear at the main site.)
I would like to hear arguments giving good reasons for reopening.
Meanwhile, there is at least some good content from Darij Grinberg, Tony Huynh, and David Roberts which do answer the question about presence of hard math at viXra, so in the event of permanent closure I hope Delio finds those replies helpful.
I can't give a good argument for reopening: that would require convincing the community that the first votes were not justified and were a mistake for the community. I can however give an argument for the type of question, and suggest that a modification of the present question is good for MathOverflow.
MathOverflow has become a repository for some specific and some general issues of mathematics. It was deemed early on that including a (controlled and not too large a) mix of big-list and soft questions kept the site varied enough to attract and keep interest of and by the community. In particular, if one could come to MathOverflow first about any subject mathematical, and get a pointer to where to find out information about that subject (especially if web searches did not make such references clear), then that was a good thing.
While I think there are better resources to learn about vixra, there aren't better resources than MathOverflow to learn about a community's perception of vixra. If a newcomer to the site is interested in vixra and how it is perceived, some factual information such as pros and cons of the site can be presented, along with links to more detailed information.
Thus, if the question were asked "How is vixra perceived by the MathOverflow community?" were put, that would not be a good MathOverflow question. If, however, the question were put as " I am thinking of publishing some math, and am considering several nontraditional alternatives. How is archiving with vixra viewed by the MathOverflow community (and perhaps the mathematical community in general)?", that would be a reasonable question, and if the answers paid due respect to vixra and its origins (while noting a lot of papers not meeting academic standards appear there), that would make it a useful question as well.
Gerhard "Motivate Both Answers And Questions" Paseman, 2016.02.04.