Music software: should we engage in general troubleshooting?

Question

I recently came across a question about encountering an error that source files were missing for an Ableton project. What is your opinion about general troubleshooting questions?

My definition for a general troubleshooting question is a question that's more about a common computer error, rather than specific to your project. Examples would involve scenarios such as missing source files, running out of RAM or Hard Disk, Gatekeeper won't let you open your app, can't export project due to lacking write permissions in the output directory, etc…

As a secondary question, how would you define a general troubleshooting question?

Answer 1

The Stack Exchange network in general is ideally suited for troubleshooting specific errors, and "usage of music related software" is on topic, so I'd say yes. People search on "Abelton missing resource error" (to use this question as an example), and get a page with (ranked) answers on the likely causes and solutions -- that is SE's bread and butter.

The question linked above could be improved with more complete details on the setup and the exact nature of the problem, but it is on topic.

Answer 2

My opinion is that this is not a place for general troubleshooting questions. They are not music-related and are more questions about general computer use.

However, if a specific question, such as “What is the default Ableton project directory structure?”, is asked, I would not consider that to be off-topic (assuming that the official documentation is deficient in that area).