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I have seen people refer to this site as "TeX.SE" and "TeX.SX". Which is more common? Is one preferred (by appearing in official places)?

I don't think that standardization is necessary: usage will sort it out. Nonetheless, it might be interesting to document the difference, possibly in relation to usage on/for other Stack Exchange sites.

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  • 3
    AFAIK we are the only site using SX.
    – yo'
    Mar 18, 2013 at 18:53
  • 2
    All other sites use SE. Why go against the norm?
    – a06e
    Mar 19, 2013 at 15:40
  • 2
    @becko Because that's how we roll :P. Do we really need a standard on this anyway?
    – percusse
    Mar 19, 2013 at 16:53
  • @percusse Generally speaking, standardization helps prevent confusion to newcomers. It's simpler to popularize the site under one abbreviation instead of two. That said, this is an informal abbreviation, which is an argument against standardization.
    – Lover of Structure
    Mar 19, 2013 at 19:56
  • True but still it doesn't matter how you abbreviate that much. Your nickname disallows me to comment Structure and discipline is not needed on this issue. It's a community practice. Time will show the preference.
    – percusse
    Mar 19, 2013 at 20:02
  • @percusse :-) Actually, I agree with you, to the extent that I have an opinion. I'm really just trying to add arguments, as they come to my mind. I think prescription is good in some places and unnecessary in others.
    – Lover of Structure
    Mar 19, 2013 at 20:04

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The 'official' position across the network is to use 'SE', so that is what I use when talking to people on other sites. However, 'SE' is the TLD for Sweden, and 'SX' (or 'sx') fits nicely with 'TeX'. So on the site I and many others use a variation of 'TeX-sx' (TeX-SX, TeX.SX, etc.).

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  • And “SX” is the TLD for Sint Maarten. You just wounded some 41 000 people on some Caribbean island nobody has ever heard of. (Or rather, you did so eight years ago.) ;-)
    – Gaussler
    Sep 5, 2021 at 10:58
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This came up tangentially at https://tex.meta.stackexchange.com/a/2288/86. I'll copy the last part of my answer from there:

I strongly prefer "TeX-SX" to "TeX.SE" (note the punctuation) and "TeX.SX" is acceptable. I'd rather annoy random other StackExchange users than the Swedes. However, as this has brought it to my attention, I'd rather make the essential details of the site clear right at the outset: that it is about TeX and is hosted on the StackExchange network. Someone visiting the FAQ is more likely to be completely new to the SE network than just visiting from some other site. All of "TeX-SX", "TeX.SX" (is it some new variety of "FX"?), and "TeX.SE" (what has Sweden ever done to you?), are unclear on first sight (and site).

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  • This is a good argument, but I would like to supplement this with two thoughts: 1. All-caps "SE" is less likely to be mistaken for being an abbreviation for "Sweden" than lowercase "se", which appears in domain names. 2. Acronym clash is extremely common. Unless there is an obvious or bothersome way of misunderstanding an acronym, such clash avoidance may be a futile effort.
    – Lover of Structure
    Mar 19, 2013 at 20:00
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In my view, TeX.SE corresponds to TeX.StackExchange(Abbreviation) whereas TeX.SX corresponds to TeX.StackeXchange(Phonetically stressed X) but both are good as long as its properly cited as asked in your meta Q and credits attributed.

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  • This answer should be accepted!
    – manooooh
    Feb 25, 2019 at 7:36
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I've been using (and seeing other people use) »TeX.SE« for about two years now, and it never made me think of Sweden, until you mentioned it -- which is probably because domain names are hardly ever spelt in uppercase (and which is why I think it's important to keep spelling it that way). Both »TeX.SE« and »TeX.SX«, however, make me think of straight edge hardcore punk, but that's okay. I prefer ».SE« because it's more down-to-earth than ».SX« which I find too fancy, or to 1990s, probably because of that »FX« association:

"TeX.SX" (is it some new variety of "FX"?)

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Those of us who have worked in this area for a long time tend to use "X" as shorthand for terms that begin with the letters "ex":

  • XML = eXtensible Markup Language

  • STIX = Scientific and Technical Information eXchange

It's second nature.

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