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: 
Excerpt from the FAQ:

> 
> What kind of questions should I not ask here?
> =============================================
> 
> 
> You should only ask practical, answerable questions based on actual
>  problems that you face. **Chatty, open-ended questions diminish the
>  usefulness of our site** and push other questions off the front page.
> 
> 
> Your questions should be **reasonably scoped**. If you can **imagine an
>  entire book that answers your question**, you’re asking too much.
> 
> 
> **If your motivation for asking the question is “I would like to
>  participate in a discussion about \_\_\_\_\_\_”, then you should not be
>  asking here.** However, if your motivation is “I would like others to
>  explain \_\_\_\_\_\_ to me”, then you are probably OK. (Discussions are of
>  course welcome in our real time web chat.)
> 
> 
> To prevent your question from being flagged and possibly removed,
>  avoid asking subjective questions where …
> 
> 
> 
> ```
> every answer is equally valid: “What’s your favorite ______?”
> your answer is provided along with the question, and you expect more answers: “I use ______ for ______, what do you use?”
> there is no actual problem to be solved: “I’m curious if other people feel like I do.”
> we are being asked an open-ended, hypothetical question: “What if ______ happened?”
> it is a rant disguised as a question: “______ sucks, am I right?”
> 
> ```
> 
> 

Emphases are mine and I want them back once you're done.

Additionally, shopping questions ("What tools should I use?") are off-topic, too. Comparisons are off-topic, too...because they're not constructive. "What's the difference between X and Y?" is a pretty mix out of all these reasons.
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.