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I'm asking this question about the history of computation. It's currently active, so I'm wondering if crossposting, in this case, would be ok. It's also on the history of computation, but some may view this as research. Would this be an appropriate subject/question for this site? I thought that researchers here may want to know about this.

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What is wrong with your post on math.stackexchange.com? Simultaneous crossposting would be obviously unfair, so please do not do that. – Tsuyoshi Ito May 27 '12 at 19:20
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Regarding cross-posting in general: "While we don't mind a question being reposted, our site policy only permits a repost after sufficient time has passed and you have not obtained the desired answer elsewhere.[...] simultaneous crossposting duplicates effort and fractures discussion. Please wait a few days and then if your question is still not answered [...] (after summarizing relevant discussions from other sites)." – Kaveh♦ May 27 '12 at 19:42
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You might be interested in this cstheory question – Artem Kaznatcheev May 28 '12 at 2:07

2 Answers

up vote 4 down vote

I don't see how a post on the history of computation is not at some level about theory. In fact I'd argue that it's ALL theory, up until the time when actual computers were designed. My problem with posting the question here is not one of scope: it's one of nature. The question is really asking for a ton of references, and is overly broad. Most parts of the question would be answered by a textbook, some reference literature and some time spent in libraries.

A more focused question along the lines of "I was looking for information on this particular nugget in the history of computation, and wanted to know if anyone had any information" would be perfectly in scope.

As for whether it should be on math.SE, I actually think it's more appropriate either here or on CS.SE (if appropriately tailored as above).

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It's not clear whether his focus is a history of computing techniques, a history of computing devices, or a history of computing applications. I think the first focus would be in scope here, although it would be very hard to distinguish it from a history of mathematics. The other two foci would not really fit here. – JɛffE May 29 '12 at 8:27
Also: What's an "actual computer"? Does the Antikythera mechanism count? The abacus? Piles of rocks? Fingers? – JɛffE May 29 '12 at 8:38
Fair enough (on the issue of an actual computer) :) – Suresh Venkat♦ May 29 '12 at 9:05
up vote 3 down vote

I don't think that this question is on topic on CSTheory.SE, as it is not about theory per se.

It certainly could be considered as on topic on CS.SE, though it might be a little broad. In any case, cross-posting is generally frowned upon. You can either ask the Mathematics.SE people to migrate the question to CS.SE. Perhaps asking this question on meta.CS.SE will help prevent your question being closed.

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