Stackoverflow has a remarkable 'offline for maintenance' page

http://sstatic.net/stackoverflow/app_offline.htm

by Luyt • 15 years ago

15 13 15 years ago

sstatic.net

user97562• 15 years ago

I don't get it. What is remarkable? Why are there six pictures of the same error message in different color schemes?

I'm not trolling. I don't understand this...

EDIT: removed erroneous rhetorical question

hyyypr• 15 years ago

same here.

ignifero3• 15 years ago

Maybe i m wrong. but it seems to be the string table from some executable around the string "stack overflow", as seen if you print it on the console or open it with vi. I wonder what executable that is.

gregschlom• 15 years ago

That's 6 screenshots in different colors of an old version of Microsoft's C compiler runtime error messages.

See for a list of those messages: http://stanislavs.org/helppc/c_errors_-msc-.html

Recent programs have different, more user-friendly error messages, but for example if you open ole2.dll or diskcopy.dll in your C:\Windows\system32 directoy with the notepad, and search for "overflow", you'll find those exact error messages.

As to why it's remarkable, that's because if you've ever opened a .exe or .dll with an hex editor looking for some things to hack, you've almost certainly came across those messages, or a variation of them.

EDIT: As pointed out in the comments, to get the exact same result as the screenshot, you must open the executable with vi.

user97562• 15 years ago

Thanks for the explanation.

ignifero3• 15 years ago

The worst thing about stackoverflow is that it makes it impossible to google a bug when you have an actual stack overflow.

smokestack• 15 years ago

stack overflow -site:stackoverflow.com

Not perfect, but it helps

po2• 15 years ago

I feel like this kind of page goes a bit too far. I think it's reasonable that even a somewhat technical user might see this page and think that stack overflow just dumped rather than that this is some sort of inside joke amongst the microsoft debugging community. A minor detail but at this point I don't think it they need to be reaching out to the geeks with inside jokes as much as building bridges to the average user.

Edit: downvote? Wouldn't you rather explain why you disagree with a civilly expressed opinion?

Que• 15 years ago

I didn't downvote, but I would like to know the difference between an "Average User" and a "Somewhat Technical User" in the context of the StackOverflow community?

po2• 15 years ago

You're right that Stack Overflow appeals to a technical user. My point is that probably the majority of Stack Overflow users are not using microsoft tools and won't get the joke. A site like github manages to make a joke with their 404 and 500 pages that will likely resonate with the vast majority of their users, but even the ones that it doesn't won't be confused by it.

My point is that making a controlled outage look like dumped error code isn't wise if you're trying to appeal to a diverse crowd who might not get it.

tszming• 15 years ago

IMHO, A blue screen of death page would be even more remarkable.

ignifero3• 15 years ago

IMHO, including some malicious javascript that causes an actual stack overflow would be even more remarkable.

Stackoverflow has a remarkable 'offline for maintenance' page

Related Stories