[xelipe]

Their new business model is more complicated than their previous business model. The five steps to citizenship seems like a weird concept. People that want to host a Q&A site like these don't want to be told they aren't good enough to have a top-level domain. Imagine wanting a blog and WordPress or Tumblr thought you undeserving of a top-level domain. Stack Exchange 2.0 has more steps to have a top-level domain site than the Chinese government has for it's citizens to acquire a domain. I'm sure there is a good Rails/PHP Q&A clone webapp.

[thenbrent]

Hear hear.

A Q&A site is not a piece of legistlation; it's an entreneurial endeavour.

It's best to leave entrepreneurs to be free to create, experiment and adapt.

Stackexhange will miss out on some great sites by rejecting them before they even get a start. The best sites will be those where the founder/s constantly adapt the site to demands of the community, not those who have the best idea upfront.

But as you say, that's where the OSS optios come in. :)

[Tawheed]

Sounds like a design by committee

[robryan]

Well it's not really like anyone will be running these sites independent of Joel, Jeff and co. So really this is just a mostly automated method of spinning off the software and getting a vibrant community at launch like SO had rather than stabbing in the dark at what people actually want.

[tcdent]

Imagine wanting a blog and WordPress or Tumblr thought you undeserving of a top-level domain.

And just look at how many crap blogs are on each of those platforms. Their goal is to curate quality content and the free-reign model has already proven itself to be incapable of it.