Timeline for answer to How can I deal with Python indentation related questions? by PM 2Ring
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
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| Dec 23, 2023 at 12:42 | history | edited | PM 2Ring | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Updated (slightly) in response to Karl's answer.
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| Nov 4, 2022 at 6:53 | comment | added | PM 2Ring | @Karl The "problem" is that when we close a question as a dupe we aren't saying that the question is intrinsically bad, unlike the other closure reasons. Dupes should be preserved, unless we already have an adequate supply of similar signposts. If you don't want the question to be preserved, don't dupe-hammer it. As for linking to a relevant canonical, that can be done with a simple comment. True, the Linked questions aren't as prominent as the dupe links, but the SO devs may change that, as mentioned in the comments to the recent experiment in making Related questions more prominent. | |
| Nov 4, 2022 at 6:42 | comment | added | Karl Knechtel | It would be nice if closing questions as duplicates (especially of multiple targets) didn't tend to preserve them. OTOH, "number of times a question is linked as a duplicate" is a useful metric for figuring out which problems are most common. | |
| Nov 4, 2022 at 6:39 | comment | added | PM 2Ring | @KarlKnechtel Sure, we do want to promote the canonicals. But we generally don't want to preserve questions that are ultimately just typos. OTOH, if the error is due to a genuine misunderstanding, and the question is reasonably clear (or can be made sufficiently clear by a minor edit), then I guess it may be a useful signpost. | |
| Nov 4, 2022 at 5:54 | comment | added | Karl Knechtel | Closing as a duplicate has many advantages: it promotes the canonical (which provides useful information, and deserves to come up in more search results); it's faster (I'm not inclined to care much about the charge of "abusive" in such clear-cut cases); and it covers the occasional case where people genuinely don't understand what the indentation requirements are. | |
| Jul 24, 2020 at 12:25 | comment | added | PM 2Ring | @CertainPerformance I'm familiar with that Q&A on Python indentation, I upvoted it & added it to the SO Python common questions collection. At the time, I posted a comment explaining why (IMHO) it should not be used as a dupe target, but that's been deleted. We discussed it in the SO Python chat room, you can see the transcript here. I can't stop people using it as a dupe target, but I'd prefer if they didn't. | |
| Jul 24, 2020 at 4:39 | comment | added | CertainPerformance | But such closures should only be performed if the target actually addresses the problem in the question, of course. No one should close as dupe if the dupe doesn't actually have anything to do with the question. | |
| Jul 24, 2020 at 4:39 | comment | added | CertainPerformance | For a few languages, there's a canonical question or two that exist for typos. If someone's whitespace is off, it's essentially a typo, but stackoverflow.com/q/45621722 happens to thoroughly explain the issue as well, so closing for that target would make perfect sense for a gold-badge holder. Similarly, for PHP, there's stackoverflow.com/q/18050071 , and so on. If such a canonical exists and if it addresses the core of the problem in the question, don't be afraid to close for it, even if said problem is basically a typo. | |
| Jul 24, 2020 at 3:25 | comment | added | PM 2Ring | @CertainPerformance If it's actually a typo, then there shouldn't be any good dupe targets. I've had discussions (with other Python gold badge holders & mods) on the idea of using the dupe hammer to quickly close poor questions. The consensus is that it borders on abuse of the hammer privilege. So I'd prefer to close non-dupes through proper channels. And manually delete the question, if necessary. Hopefully, getting their answers deleted discourages some rep-hunters. ;) | |
| Jul 24, 2020 at 1:45 | comment | added | CertainPerformance | @PM2Ring Just because a question is not a good signpost for future readers doesn't mean it shouldn't be closed as a duplicate - the intent would be to get the question closed so as to prevent (useless) answers from being posted - and if a downvoted dupe has no answers, it will roomba. On the other hand, if you VTC as typo, that gives rep-hunters the chance to post an answer for those 5+ minutes before the question gets closed by 2 other close voters, and if said answer gets upvoted or accepted, the question will not roomba. So, I'd rather VTC as dupe ASAP, rather than give them that chance. | |
| Jul 23, 2020 at 23:53 | comment | added | PM 2Ring | @CertainPerformance I do have a Python gold badge, but I don't use it to close typos. A question closed as a dupe is supposed to act as a signpost to its dupe target(s) for future readers, which is why they're kept (unless we already have plenty of similar signpost questions). But typos are rarely useful for future readers, which is why they get Roomba'd. If a typo question gathers an answer or two before it gets closed, it's no big deal, but I sometimes leave a brief comment on such answers. (BTW, the question quoted by the OP has now been manually deleted). | |
| Jul 23, 2020 at 14:28 | comment | added | CertainPerformance | On one hand, if one has a gold badge, I think voting to close as dupe ASAP if no answers exist is the best option, because that'll prevent answers from being posted, and doesn't require additional moderation, and if downvoted, it'll roomba. On the other hand, if there are already answers, the roomba won't run if the question is closed as dupe, so VTC as typo could be better if no answers have been accepted/upvoted. Either way, if the roomba won't run, come back a couple days later and vote to delete the question | |
| Jul 23, 2020 at 12:51 | vote | accept | Sabito | ||
| Jul 23, 2020 at 12:50 | comment | added | PM 2Ring | @Yatin Sure! A flag or close-vote will put the post into a review queue so it will get extra attention. | |
| Jul 23, 2020 at 12:50 | comment | added | MisterMiyagi | You can (and should) flag even older questions if the flag is applicable. The question isn't any less a typo-question just because it did not get noticed yet. | |
| Jul 23, 2020 at 12:46 | comment | added | Sabito | Ok got it. But (since it will soon be closed & manually deleted) if I understand correctly this question is being closed because attention to it was brought to it via this meta post... This question was asked 2 years and 9 months ago, I found it on 'First posts' queue because a low rep user had recently answered it. What should I do if I ever come across something like this again? Can I flag them as typos too? | |
| Jul 23, 2020 at 12:02 | history | edited | PM 2Ring | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
added 375 characters in body
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| Jul 23, 2020 at 11:56 | history | answered | PM 2Ring | CC BY-SA 4.0 |