Question: I have been using Subversion for a while, but am seeing all my colleagues switch to (or advocate) GIT. So I googled to find some info on the differences.

In the top ten results was this SO thread...

[Why is Git better than Subversion?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/871/why-is-git-better-than-subversion)

It was closed as off topic. But, of all the Google results I received, that SO post was the most objective and informative. This because it was written by multiple authors and allowed point/counterpoint. Additionally it had the collective brain power of several dozen of SO's resident geniuses behind it.

I wanted to know more about why it was off topic. I looked at the FAQ. In the FAQ one of the criteria was "software tools commonly used by programmers". Well, is this not a question about exactly that? Software tools commonly used by programmers?

I agree that if a software tool comparison question is asked more than once, it should be closed as a duplicate. But software tool comparison questions are not off topic according to the FAQ and should not be closed. More than that, we will lose access to useful/valuable/above-average information if we do.

**EDIT:** Sorry I mis-spoke. It was locked not closed. But only because it was historically significant. However, had it been a new question, I assume the moderator would have closed it as off topic.

Answer: 
The answer does not really fit the Q&A format as used on SO, as the previous answers have pointed out.

There are other sites on the SE network where such question might be asked. A similar (but not equal) question has already been asked on Programmers (see [What does SVN do better than Git?](https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/111633/what-does-svn-do-better-than-git)).

However, even programmers does not accept "Why is technology X better then Y" kind of questions. But questions in the sense of "What are the differences between technology X and Y". or "What advantage has X over Y and vice-versa" are perfectly valid. So asking "What are the differences of SVN and GIT" and asking about advantages / disadvantages of both should be perfectly valid.
I just want to add a little observation and I do not have enough reputation to add a comment so, I just add my comment like this.

When the topic is locked because of this type of situations, why the OP does not point in what kind of stackexchange site the user should had submitted his question? Is good to educate the users. If the question is valid but in another context, the OPs should educate the user (and all the others that reads that topics, like me) and start pointing them to the right direction. Maybe this type of question fits in the Programmers stackexchange site (like mentioned in one comment in this topic) and that reference should be placed in the locking observation mentioned by the OP.