3
$\begingroup$

We should add the option to migrate to Theoretical Computer Science when voting to close. This question is an obvious candidate.

$\endgroup$
11
  • $\begingroup$ I agree. Moderators can intervene and migrate anywhere; I sent this question to CS. $\endgroup$ Jul 31, 2013 at 0:56
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ I think that question is probably off-topic at cs-theory, since it is too elementary. Math.SE is the right choice here. In my opinion, almost any question that is on-topic at cs-theory is also on-topic at MO; it's just that cs-theory will have more experts to answer it. In particular, we hardly ever need to migrate there. $\endgroup$ Jul 31, 2013 at 1:41
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ I didn't know about the CS site, which seems to handle elementary complexity theory questions, so that seems OK also, although I believe the question would have fared better at math.SE. The main point of my previous comment is that it would likely be off-topic at Theoretical Computer Science, and so that question is not a good example to support a migration path there. $\endgroup$ Jul 31, 2013 at 1:53
  • $\begingroup$ Joel is right, I don't think the question is suitable for cstheory. For this question Computer Science or Mathematics are better options. (I think the question would get more attention on Computer Science since there are more computer scientists there than on Mathematics.) $\endgroup$
    – Kaveh
    Jul 31, 2013 at 2:41
  • $\begingroup$ related to opening the migration path to cstheory: meta.mathoverflow.net/q/141, meta.cstheory.stackexchange.com/q/2691 $\endgroup$
    – Kaveh
    Jul 31, 2013 at 2:45
  • $\begingroup$ I can't make the call whether it is suitable for CS or CS-theory but, to me, it's clearly in one of those, not in MO. The natural thing is to send it over to CS-theory and, if they think is too elementary, they can send it to CS. The opposite direction is not going to work. $\endgroup$ Jul 31, 2013 at 2:59
  • 5
    $\begingroup$ Felipe, I don't agree with your analysis. Complexity theory questions are on-topic for MO, and I would urge you not to vote to close or migrate just because a question is about complexity theory. We have some active complexity theory tags (e.g. mathoverflow.net/questions/tagged/computational-complexity), containing some very nice questions. If a complexity theory question is too elementary for MO, then it will also be too elementary for cs-theory. $\endgroup$ Jul 31, 2013 at 4:02
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ Actually, complexity theory questions concerning oracles, as here, are probably slightly more on-topic at MO than your typical complexity theory question, because the oracle aspect often makes the topic wade into pure computability theory and Turing degrees, which are even more on-topic here at MO. $\endgroup$ Jul 31, 2013 at 4:05
  • 7
    $\begingroup$ @Felipe, you shouldn't migrate a question when you don't know if it is going to be suitable on the target site. Migration should be done only when you are quite sure that the question is going to be fine on the target site. (Think about how people here would feel if math questions were migrated from Stack Overflow to MO with the same attitude that if they are not suitable people on MO can migrate them to Mathematics.) $\endgroup$
    – Kaveh
    Jul 31, 2013 at 6:15
  • 4
    $\begingroup$ @FelipeVoloch Double migrations are not possible; see meta.stackexchange.com/q/185839/184716. You have to get it right the first time. Furthermore, if they close it on the target site as off-topic it'll end up back here (closed). $\endgroup$
    – Logan M
    Jul 31, 2013 at 13:09
  • 5
    $\begingroup$ I agree with Joel. Theoretical Computer Science is a branch of mathematics closely connected to both logic and discrete mathematics. There have been a number of interesting computer science theory questions on this site. If theoretical computer science is not your cup of tea and you are not sure of the level of such a question, then I think it is best to just leave it alone. There are enough people on MO who know theoretical computer science well enough to decide if the question should be closed or answered. $\endgroup$ Jul 31, 2013 at 16:58

1 Answer 1

3
$\begingroup$

This is something we can look at. As pointed out, mods can migrate to any site in the network at their discretion. What we like to do is watch instances of that, and look at how many posts were rejected by the target site (e.g. closed as anything but a duplicate).

If it looks like questions going there and being accepted is a recurring scenario, then we can definitely look at establishing a migration path. Right now, there's just not enough data to indicate if it would be a good idea or not. Not saying that it isn't, but we like to be certain before establishing the conduit.

$\endgroup$
0

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .