I suspect that we'll get a large contingent of people here who are already familiar with the SO software, but as the SO/SE empire expands then these people may have different codes of behaviour. In particular, there appear to be some differences between how things are done on SO as to MO [mathoverflow] [1]. As a frequenter of MO, but only just dipping my toe in the water at SO, my default behaviour is that of an MO user because I don't know any different.
Now, let me make one thing clear before I go on. Whatever the differences are, I would tend to favour the SO one over the MO one for here because I think that the relationship between the subject and the users is closer to that on SO than MO. However, having experience only of MO then I don't know what the differences are. This came up in my CW question.
So I have a question and a suggestion. My underlying question is probably unanswerable (what are the differences?) so I shan't answer it. To make an answerable question, let me ask:
What should someone coming from MO know about the etiquette here before jumping in?
Or more specifically:
Where have the current MO crew here shown behaviour that doesn't fit with the current behaviour patterns on SO?
Or perhaps (thinking of a current question on the main site):
How do you spot an MO user?
My suggestion is that something should be put in the FAQ about this. Not a huge swathe detailing every difference, but an acknowledgement that there are differences and that we follow the SO model where there are such differences.
In time, I'm sure we'll evolve our own culture, but I think it can be useful to align ourselves correctly at the start.
(Incidentally, I don't expect everyone who comes here from MO to read the FAQ before jumping in. I think that it takes some of the heat out of the exchange when someone does something wrong:
Version 1:
A does something wrong B points this out A storms off in a huff saying "How was I supposed to know? And who set you up as judge and jury?"
Version 2:
A does something wrong B points this out and refers to an entry in the FAQ A says "Oh right; guess I should have read that first. Sorry."
Notice that in version 2, A bears no grudge against B since B (hopefully) never expressed a personal opinion on A's behaviour.)
(Added:) In the comments, Suresh asked for an elaboration of my comment above about the relationship between the subject and the users. I've written out my thoughts at some length here.