Ask HN: Alternative to StackOverflow?

I don't believe that place exists on the Internet. There are lots of books/papers/talks on why that is but they boil down to 'problem' people spend more time creating problems on the Internet because it makes them feel better about themselves. 'helpful and polite' people spend more time actually getting things done because that makes them feel better about themselves. So combination creates a disproportionate share of 'problem' people in forums and other online communities.

Create an invitation only version of Stack Overflow perhaps and require 100% full transparency on participants (real names, job, and affiliations). Experience with those sorts of communities show that folks will be helpful and polite (generally) but the community will not be vibrant or large.

My experience of StackOverflow users is that they are generally polite and very helpful although I've noticed a trend over recent month towards less tolerance towards people asking questions who obviously haven't even done a basic Google search first. I think StackOverflow users see it as a place to get answers to questions that aren't answered anywhere else on the internet rather than as a way of getting someone to do a Google search on your behalf. Not that I'm suggesting that this is your situation.

If you're looking for an alternative to StackOverflow where the quality of content and discourse is high then Forrst (www.forrst.com) is a great place. It's an invitation only community of web designers and developers which is in part, I think, what keeps the place friendly and helpful.