Hi, the gnu/server/staging directory was created years ago because GNU webmasters expressed the wish to have a private space where they could play around, test and see how different styles would look in the website. Things like where to put the nav bar, which colors to use, where to use h3s or h4s, and the like. You can call it a sandbox or, perhaps better, a playground.
Sometimes we also use it for text drafts. I, for example, often use it for unfinished articles intended to be published under /education. Yes, these things we can discuss in private mailing lists --and we do. But after discussion, we generally upload it first to /staging for a final clean-up, because seeing it on the screen exactly the way it would look in the main website often reveals mistakes that were overseen during discussion. The staging directory is also a good place for new webmasters to try their hand at building webpages. In sum, this private playground is something webmasters want and need, and search engines should have no business indexing it. Is it possible? -- Dora Scilipoti gnu.org/education stallmansupport.org -- Disinformation succeeds because so many people care deeply about injustice but do not take the time to check the facts.
