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The tag has the following description:

This tag refers to the process of replacing a particular system with an older version of the same system

This tag does not really add useful information to questions with it, and you can't be an expert in "downgrading" in general.

I think the tag should be burninated. Let's go through the formal burnination criteria:

  1. Does it describe the contents of the questions to which it is applied? and is it unambiguous?

    No. Whilst all these questions are vaguely about downgrading something, the thing being downgraded is not the same in all cases.

  2. Is the concept described even on-topic for the site?

    No, since it's not something that is strictly programming-related.

  3. Does the tag add any meaningful information to the post?

    No. Since anything can be downgraded, this tag does not add any meaningful information to the post.

  4. Does it mean the same thing in all common contexts?

    Not really. Whilst the questions are all about downgrading in general, they range from downgrading frameworks to downgrading operating systems.

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  • 36
    "Almost anything can be downgraded, from a vehicle model to a Netflix subscription." I agree with the burnination proposal but I don't agree with this argument here. Python is a type of reptile. Does not mean that [python] is not on topic.
    – VLAZ
    Commented Feb 10, 2022 at 19:43
  • 5
    @VLAZ the point is not that Netflix subscriptions can be downgraded, it's that anything can be downgraded.
    – bzr
    Commented Feb 10, 2022 at 19:44
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    And my point is that a word having non-programming meaning, does automatically mean it's not related to programming. Downgrading can be a task related to programming - downgrading dependencies, packages, API support, etc. I don't think it's useful classifier for programming tasks, as it's a meta tag at best but it is a programming term, as well.
    – VLAZ
    Commented Feb 10, 2022 at 20:16
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    Important: In practice, burnination means editing every question individually and removing the tag while doing any additional moderation (voting/flagging/editing). Make sure your question contains guidance about how each of these options should be used. ... include evidence like wrong/ambiguous usage, lack of context, presence of off-topic questions, and statistics about related tags. See more about how to formulate a burninate request here: meta.stackoverflow.com/tags/burninate-request/info
    – Travis J
    Commented Feb 10, 2022 at 21:31
  • 16
    Removed a debate about the burnination process. The four questions are what the burnination process requires. This question is fine as-is. If you disagree with it, downvote and post an answer explaining why the tag is useful. Declined requests like this one are debated and then tagged with a result. If you want to debate the process itself, ask a question about it and use the burninate-system tag. Do not close burninates you disagree with, or debate the process in comments.
    – Machavity Mod
    Commented Feb 11, 2022 at 13:32
  • 2
    @Machavity - Quite a biased removal of comments. Seems to be trend. Those four questions are what you should ask yourself before you start a fact finding mission. Where is any evidence of investigation here? "the ultimate criterion for burnination is whether the tag is actually causing harm", and discovering the criteria for that is done through gathering evidence, not throwing up a pun and patting yourself on the back for answering No to four vague questions.
    – Travis J
    Commented Feb 12, 2022 at 8:42
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    @Machavity - In what world did you think removing honest debate in comments from Meta was a good idea?
    – Travis J
    Commented Feb 12, 2022 at 8:42
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    @TravisJ It's a good idea to remove comments when they are not about the current question. Like most things, it's situational, so judgement is involved. In the current case, the deleted comment thread veered substantially away from being about "should this tag be burninated", or even "what changes need to be made to this question to comply with the existing process", into "the tag system on SO and burnination process have problems, which we should fix." It's inappropriate to have that conversation on this question. To have that conversation, a question about that should be used.
    – Makyen Mod
    Commented Feb 12, 2022 at 16:30
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    Neither @Machavity or myself are saying that conversation shouldn't be had, nor have we made an indication here of our opinions on that topic. We've only said that it's not appropriate for people to usurp the comments on this question in order to have a discussion that's not about this question or the specific issue which it brought up, particularly when there's an entire tag on MSO for questions devoted to discussing what the deleted comment thread had mutated into.
    – Makyen Mod
    Commented Feb 12, 2022 at 16:31

1 Answer 1

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I disagree with this burnination request. The tag doesn't do any harm, it helps to describe the contents of the question. (It does not describe the kind of question, it's not a meta tag).

the thing being downgraded is not the same in all cases.

Doesn't matter. C arrays and JS arrays are not the same either, and yet we use the tag for both of them, and qualify them with a language tag.

Is the concept described even on-topic for the site?

No, since it's not something that is strictly programming-related.

Version management is very much programming-related. Whether it's s or s, there are a lot of things programmers need to consider to make them work. You can even be an expert in that.

Does the tag add any meaningful information to the post?

Yes it does: the information that the question is about the process of downgrading. That the tag is not very specific doesn't make it less useful - it's the tag combination that should be precise.

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