<p>Software-specific questions have always been a touchy subject here.  When questions are <em>only</em> about how to do something in <code>R</code>, or what does this error message mean, or what is the code for, or what is the package for, are off-topic for CV.  However, it can be tricky.  For what it's worth, my rule is simple: what does the OP need explained?  If it is a statistical (machine learning, etc.) concept / principle, then it belongs here; if it is something about the language / software, it doesn't.  In the case of that thread, the answer was ultimately about the current state of statistical science on the topic, so I would agree that it belongs on CV.  But, that was presumably not known to the migrators of the thread.  </p>

<p>In addition, another point about migration of <code>R</code>-related threads needs to be made clearer here on CV.  In the little that I follow SO, and in the discussions about migration of <code>R</code> questions, it has become apparent that any <code>R</code>-related question needs to have a <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/q/5963269/1217536">reproducible example</a> to be on-topic on SO.  That is, it needs some minimal data and code that will allow potential answerers on SO to reproduce the issue.  That question did not have such, so I wouldn't have voted to migrate (I would have voted to close, though--mistakenly given the true nature of the answer).  I think that question was tricky in that it seems to be of such a nature that it doesn't need a reproducible example.  But my understanding of on- / off-topic criteria for <code>R</code> questions on SO is that they construe <em>programming</em> questions quite narrowly.  That is, since it wouldn't need a reproducible example, it is off-topic.  </p>

<p>Another issue, I think, is that people seem to believe that all questions should have a home somewhere in the SE system.  This belief leads people to think, 'it's either on-topic here or on SO, and it's not on-topic here, thus by disjunction, it must be on-topic on SO'.  However, many <code>R</code> (<code>Stata</code>, <code>SAS</code>, <code>SPSS</code>) related questions will not be on-topic on either site, but should be asked on the r-help-listserv (statalist, etc.).  That is where I would have encouraged the OP to ask.  </p>

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<p>As far as I know, the requirement of having a reproducible example on SO is not so rigid for other languages (e.g., <code>Python</code>, <code>SAS</code>, <code>Stata</code>, <code>MATLAB</code>, etc.).  </p>

<p>Personally, I would be fine, given the answer, if the question were migrated <em>back</em> to CV.  (I might edit the question to say something like, 'why doesn't there seem to be a package for LASSO standard errors, are they difficult to compute?', though, to make it easier to find, and easier to see it's statistical nature.)  </p>
