Retag Clarification: Tagging of Distribution Code Names

Question

Could someone please clarify when a post should include the Android version, and when they should not?

This question stems from a retag on a question I recently posted. The workaround/solution that I found was buried in the OS of the phone, hence it seems appropriate that it should have been tagged 2.3 Gingerbread. I'm not worried about qualifying for the contest (clicking the buttons and throwing pizels is good enough a prize for me), I'm just looking for when and why to tag as 2.3.

As far as I can tell, the question is describing a problem that stems possibly from the OS, the hardware (in perfect condition), the hardware (after long use), and subsequent software installed. The tag was also describing the type of problem (power, as best I could describe, though display may also fit).

• What is the policy for tagging with the OS?
• How can I tell when tagging with the OS is extraneous or meta-tagging?

Answer 1

The tag wiki has this information:

Only use this tag when your question is truly specific to Gingerbread. For example, it's appropriate to use when asking about a Gingerbread feature, but not when asking about a device hardware issue unaffected by the OS (even you're using Gingerbread on that device!).

In the case of your question, it seemed to me that there was no evidence that the issue was GB-specific. (The setting in your answer exists in other OS versions.) Hypothetically, if you had determined that the issue didn't happen on 2.2 and only started after a 2.3 upgrade, for example, then it would be appropriate to use the OS tag. On the other hand I've heard of similar issues that were indeed specific to the hardware, so I thought the specific device tag was fine.

Tags are used to create useful categories. The OS version in use could be applied to nearly every question on the site, which would make the OS categories far too broad. The guidelines are thus an attempt to limit the scope to a useful subset. If someone looks under [samsung-galaxy-s] [2.3-gingerbread], for example, we want to make sure that every question they see will be relevant.