Timwi wrote:
Erik Moeller wrote:
All articles are borderline in terms of the descriptive/instructive distinction.
I do not believe a topic is in itself descriptive or instructive, unless it is explicitly a "how to" topic. None of the topics mentioned in the posting that started this thread are. Of course, articles on subroutines can be written in a "how to" (i.e. instructive) way, but they needn't necessarily be, and as such, they should be rewritten in preference to being deleted.
I don't even attach much validity to the descriptive/instructive distinction. A "how to" topic needs to be treated like any other. Chocolate cakes and subroutines should not be treated any differently. When the debate is put in terms of delete or include with no middle options improvement becomes impossible.
Ec