Ask Ubuntu
title: "Ask Ubuntu" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["computing-websites", "internet-properties-established-in-2010", "ubuntu", "stack-exchange-network", "linux-websites", "question-and-answer-websites"] topic_path: "technology/computing" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ask_Ubuntu" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox website"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Ask Ubuntu |
| logo | Ask Ubuntu logo.svg |
| logo_size | 175px |
| screenshot | AskUbuntu.png |
| screenshot_size | 280px |
| caption | Screenshot of Ask Ubuntu, December 2013 |
| url | https://askubuntu.com/ |
| commercial | Yes |
| type | Question & Answer |
| language | English |
| registration | Optional |
| (Required to track reputation)Whole Stack Exchange network uses the same accounts, however, each site tracks reputations separately. | |
| owner | Stack Exchange, Inc. |
| author | Community-authored |
| launch_date | October 2010 |
| current_status | Online |
| :: |
| name = Ask Ubuntu | logo = Ask Ubuntu logo.svg | logo_size = 175px | screenshot = AskUbuntu.png | screenshot_size = 280px | caption = Screenshot of Ask Ubuntu, December 2013 | url = https://askubuntu.com/ | commercial = Yes | type = Question & Answer | language = English | registration = Optional (Required to track reputation)Whole Stack Exchange network uses the same accounts, however, each site tracks reputations separately. | owner = Stack Exchange, Inc. | author = Community-authored | launch_date = October 2010 | current_status = Online | revenue = Ask Ubuntu is a community-driven question and answer website for the Ubuntu operating system. It is part of the Stack Exchange Network, running the same software as Stack Overflow.
Members gain reputation based on the community's response (through voting) to their questions and answers. Reputation signifies trust for users in the answers they give. Privileges are given based on reputation levels, with users with the highest reputation having similar privileges to moderators. All the user-generated content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license.
The site came out of public beta on 10 October 2010, launching alongside Ubuntu 10.10.
, Ask Ubuntu has about 1.3 million registered users and more than 380,000 questions.
History
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/AskUbuntuLogo.png" caption="work=OMG! Ubuntu!}}"] ::
Despite the Stack Exchange policy against fragmentation, after deliberation and voting, Ask Ubuntu was allowed to continue alongside a separate 'Linux and Unix' site.
Ask Ubuntu has received help from Canonical Ltd., which has allowed the site to use their trademark. Canonical Ltd has also helped in the designing of the site, ensuring that Ask Ubuntu's theme follows the Ubuntu brand guidelines.
Format
The website allows the users to ask and answer questions. The users are given the ability to vote the questions and answers up or down. They can also earn reputation points and "badges" for their various contributions to the site. For example, a person is rewarded with 10 reputation points if their answer for a question receives an "up" vote.
All users can submit edits to the questions and answers in a wiki style, and their suggested edits go through a peer review process. Users with 2,000 reputation points or more can edit the questions and answers directly, without having their edits go through a similar peer review process. Some posts are designated as "community wiki", which have a lower reputation requirement for editing.
Ask Ubuntu has two sub-sites: a "meta" where users can ask and answer questions about the site itself, and a set of real time chat rooms as part of the Stack Exchange network of sites.
Notes
References
References
- "Ask Ubuntu - About".
- "What is reputation? How do I earn (and lose) it?". Ask Ubuntu.
- "What is the license for the content I post?".
- "Users". Stack Exchange.
- "Questions". Ask Ubuntu.
- Sneddon, Joey. (July 2010). "Vote now for an awesome new Ubuntu help platform". OMG! Ubuntu!.
- "Stack Exchange - Ubuntu Proposed Q&A site for ubuntu users and developers".
- Humphrey, Benjamin. (October 2010). ""Ask Ubuntu" Stack Exchange site out of beta, new awesome domain". OMG! Ubuntu!.
- (17 September 2010). "Merging Season". Stack Overflow.
- (14 August 2010). "Unix and Ubuntu: Why Both?". Stack Overflow.
- (2 September 2010). "Fork it!". Stack Overflow.
- "Canonical Design - This week in design – 8 October 2010".
- "FAQ: What is Reputation?". Stack Overflow.
- "Privileges". Ask Ubuntu.
- (15 October 2010). "Stack Overflow Chat Now Live". Stack Overflow.
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::