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https://webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/19901/cheaper-alternatives-to-dropbox-for-around-10gb

What am I missing? I asked a very specific question: alternatives to dropbox for a specific price point and minimum requirements. Was the problem that I mentioned Dropbox at all? How should I have phrased this question more appropriately?

(Note that I originally posted on superuser - to me services like DropBox are primarily desktop tools.)

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Basically it's a shopping request.

Two reasons:

  1. You have a specific price point in mind
  2. You are looking for an alternative to what you're currently using

Those two weigh heavily against the survival of your question as that type of question doesn't fit the Q&A.

A better version would be a question asking about how to fix or get around a limitation. Answers that offer alternatives would be okay, but the primary goal is to get a solid answer, not a shopping list.

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    Ok, so to make sure I've understood: there is a very specific kind of question which is prohibited for a very specific reason, and it even has a specific name ("shopping request") - but instead my question got closed for a totally different reason ("not constructive"). Incidentally, reading between the lines, if I hadn't mentioned a dollar figure, or indeed if I was only interested in free products, there wouldn't have been a problem. That strikes me as odd. Commented Oct 19, 2011 at 4:40
  • Incidentally, and somewhat amusingly, the "no shopping recommendations" rule only applies to superuser - which is not where my question was closed. Commented Oct 19, 2011 at 4:44
  • Take out the dollar amount and you'll still have a shopping request. @ste Commented Oct 19, 2011 at 16:36
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    The "no shopping recommendation" rule is not just Super User only. You'll need to point out where it states that it is that site limited. @ste Commented Oct 20, 2011 at 1:54
  • @SteveBennett The "No shopping recommendation" rule was introduced because of Super User, but applies to all sites - including Stack Overflow and here.
    – ChrisF Mod
    Commented Oct 20, 2011 at 14:01
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    Ok, it's mentioned in the SuperUser FAQ, but not in the webapps one. I drew (apparently erroneous) conclusions. Commented Oct 20, 2011 at 23:38

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