<p>Our help page <a href="https://stats.stackexchange.com/help/on-topic">What topics can I ask about here?</a> says:&ndash;</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>If your question is about
  <li><strong>Programming</strong>, ask on Stack Overflow.  If the language
  is statistically oriented (such as <strong>R</strong>,
  <strong>SAS</strong>, <strong>Stata</strong>, <strong>SPSS</strong>,
  etc.), then decide based on the nature of your question: if it needs
  <em>statistical expertise</em> to understand or answer, ask it here;
  if it's about an <em>algorithm</em>, routine <em>data processing</em>,
  or details of the <em>language</em>, then please refer to the collection
  of links to resources we maintain.</li></p>
</blockquote>

<p>Can anyone tell the intent behind "if it's about an algorithm"? We don't regard questions about <a href="https://stats.stackexchange.com/q/205/17230">Fisher scoring</a> or <a href="https://stats.stackexchange.com/q/67380/17230">Hartigan&ndash;Wong</a> as off-topic. I think we should clarify that clause (or else remove it altogether).</p>
