Wikipedia has the same problem.
At least SO is clear and honest and upfront about it, and they don't have megabytes of rules and guidelines and essays and etc to follow.
I do understand the frustration of having good interesting questions closed. (Especially if it's for dumb reasons.)
Wikipedia can feel very toxic. Even if you're avoiding the obvious hot-button topics.
Who would be harmed if those questions were left open (other than the anally-retentive)?
(Personally I'm a fan of a little site called Hacker News for this purpose... but I've never found the answer to a programming problem on Hacker News. And I've never found french fries at a Pizza store, and I don't fault Pizza stores for not selling french fries)
If someone wants a discussion, or slightly off-topic questions there's other places to do that, and SO is not obligated to accommodate everyone.
We generally believe that it's important to keep the quality on Stack Overflow high, so that when you click on a stackoverflow.com result on Google, you can trust that you're going to get something good. That means that Stack Overflow is not just a host where anyone can type things into the Internet, and we host it. It's a curated environment.
I get it. They were actually right about the broken-window theory. The demand for quality has had an enormously positive impact overall and they should get a lot of credit for that. But they routinely close questions that simply do not need to be closed.
Sorry, that was unnecessarily snarky. People on the Internet tend to believe that if there is a TEXTAREA tag on the internet, they have a right to type things into that TEXTAREA and have them hosted on the Internet by somebody else until the end of time. This eventually leads to youtube, reddit, etc... very amazing things but nevertheless not necessarily good places to solve programming problems quickly.
What's needed is for somebody to set up an equivalent site with better moderation policy. I'd love to take a shot at that, but I'm up to my eyes already, I just don't have time. Probably the same is true of most people here, but if you ever run into anyone who is looking for a project, please point them to that idea.
On the other hand, sometimes is really is a popularity contest. My number one pick is someone from the tag community I hang out with the most. I already trust his judgement.
X. It took me Y seconds to google your problem and find that solution.
It'd save me downvoting every time I see that kind of ridiculous passive aggressive bullshit.
Frustrating to be so downvoted for raising something that is so rotten by the way, presumably it's ok to talk down to somebody simply because you feel they haven't put in enough effort in asking a question?
Or perhaps it was the language? That stems from being frustrated with the nasty culture that seems to be seeping in to so many corners of our development communities.
"Google it" answers tend to be deleted pretty quickly by the mods.