41
votes
Accepted
why are we not encouraging posting answers as an answer but not via comments?
You're always encouraged to answer questions as actual answers and not simply as comments. But it's really up to the individual users of the site to put in whatever effort they are most comfortable ...
slmMod
- 361k
40
votes
An answer you gave is now incorrect/obsolete due to software updates.
People might be using old kernel version, and for many reasons be unwilling or unable to update.
just update your answer with something like:
Kernel version 3.14.15.927 released on July 18, 2016 ...
- 31k
40
votes
Accepted
How do we want to handle AI-generated answers?
I think such answers should be banned entirely, and anyone posting ChatGPT answers without attribution should be banned with prejudice.
If the asker wants an answer from an AI, they can go to ChatGPT ...
- 35k
34
votes
Accepted
Downvoting answers to questions asked like "do my homework"
Both questions and answers should be voted on purely on their own merits.
If someone writes a comprehensive answer to a marginally asked question, it's not appropriate to downvote such an answer, ...
slmMod
- 361k
33
votes
why are we not encouraging posting answers as an answer but not via comments?
I am very opposed to answers as comments.
Using the comments robs us of the ability to vote up or down or suggest edits, and basically defeats the functioning of the Stack Exchange engine. And since ...
- 39.3k
29
votes
Would you like to have the accepted answer pinned or unpinned on UNIX & Linux?
I think it would be best to have accepted answers unpinned on U&L. I see no reason to treat accepted answers specially.
- 34.4k
22
votes
I use pre-written answers to frequently asked Qs. Is this wrong?
It is not acceptable to post identical answers to multiple questions.
This has been brought up on the main StackExchange Meta site as a FAQ:
Is it acceptable to add a duplicate answer to several ...
KusalanandaMod
- 316k
15
votes
Accepted
editing an answer to add code example, and then it was reverted
I agree with improving existing answers; so does the help center:
When should I edit posts?
Any time you feel you can make the post better, and are inclined to do so. Editing is encouraged!
...
- 66k
15
votes
Would you like to have the accepted answer pinned or unpinned on UNIX & Linux?
I would suggest that unpinning is the better behaviour. Two situations come to mind:
When a question is answered by a quick&dirty solution, that may work for the OP, and may therefore be accepted. ...
- 3,920
14
votes
Accepted
When to "Comment", and when to "Answer"?
I'll refer to our Help Center's section on the "Comment" privilege, in part:
When should I comment?
You should submit a comment if you want to:
Request clarification from the author;
...
- 66k
13
votes
The Question vs The Outcome
Writing answers that are well received takes practice. Before I started answering questions here I looked at answers that I thought were good and tried to emulate them in my approach until I found ...
slmMod
- 361k
13
votes
Downvoting answers to questions asked like "do my homework"
The description for answer vote reads "this answer is/is not useful". If the question isn't great but the answer is clearly useful, the answer should not be down voted.
If the question is too vague, ...
- 14.1k
13
votes
Accepted
Was my behavior correct in this situation?
First off, thank you for taking the discussion to Meta instead of in comments! This is the right place to hash out "meta" level discussions like this one.
Second, sorry to hear about your ...
- 66k
12
votes
Linking to the POSIX standard text (about editions and HTML fragments)
I don't think it's automatically a bad thing to use a link with the explicit date (as long as it's current at the time!). The answer written here will probably be based on that particular version ...
- 130k
12
votes
Accepted
Answer with alternative solution not addressing the question directly
The premise is that Stack's goal is to build a library of high-quality answers,
thus in general I think alternative answers are welcome, as long as they fit the site's scope — here, they should employ ...
- 18.5k
12
votes
I use pre-written answers to frequently asked Qs. Is this wrong?
If it's a dupe, flag it as a dupe (i.e. Vote To Close). In many cases, this will also apply to trivial or minor variations of previously asked questions.
If it's an extremely common FAQ (like ...
- 75.1k
12
votes
Accepted
Answer question not expertly but with gathered information if Q has no answers
I think you are perhaps being a little hard on yourself.
Even as an expert, sometimes the most useful thing you can provide is the knowledge of what to type into google and which sources of ...
- 16.8k
12
votes
How do we want to handle AI-generated answers?
I think it is really important to understand the thing that we are banning or not banning.
As far as I'm aware ChatGPT and all other successful AI in this space are NOT doing original research to ...
- 16.8k
11
votes
I use pre-written answers to frequently asked Qs. Is this wrong?
When a user posts identical answers to different questions, the system raises an automatic moderator flag. That is already a pretty strong hint that this behavior isn't welcome. Also, in the more than ...
terdonMod
- 232k
9
votes
Why does reviewers not accept? Reject the edits without understanding
I vote to reject your edit for two reasons:
the first part of your edit doesn’t add any substantive content, it’s a variation on the existing last -x | less command and an example;
the second part of ...
- 402k
9
votes
when to make an answer community
I think that Answers-in-comments are not a good use-case for a community-wiki Answer. I would give the commenter an opportunity to answer on their own, perhaps by asking them directly to answer; if ...
- 66k
9
votes
I use pre-written answers to frequently asked Qs. Is this wrong?
IMO: If you take the trouble to collect canned answers to post, you could instead take the trouble of collecting links to earlier questions about the same thing, and vote to close as duplicate.
(of ...
- 130k
8
votes
why are we not encouraging posting answers as an answer but not via comments?
I believe there are legit reasons to provide an answer (or sometimes a hint) in a comment if:
the question should not be answered (it's silly, duplicate, off-topic etc.) and either
the question lacks ...
- 7,073
8
votes
Best practice: add and harmonize missing input filenames for Qs & As?
If harmonized file names are really useful to follow the question and answers, then please do harmonize them. Pick a sensible set, preferably the one in the question, failing that one used in an ...
8
votes
Accepted
Comments of thanks
Well, lets just say that Gilles is willing to have a thanks each time someone finds one of his answers helpful. You know what would happen?
Not very useful, right? How can he find what needs his ...
- 35.2k
8
votes
Was my behavior correct in this situation?
Was I wrong in flagging it as not an answer? Or better, why was i wrong to flag it as not an answer?
The "not an answer" flag is incorrect in this context. The answer is a direct response ...
- 16.8k
8
votes
Answer question not expertly but with gathered information if Q has no answers
If you have taken the time and effort to produce a sourced answer, then it is an answer. It should be posted.
Your research may well be better than anything the OP achieved before asking. After all, ...
- 101
7
votes
Is there a mechanism for dealing with unmaintained questions?
No, the only mechanisms are to vote the better answer(s) up above the one that's marked as the accepted answer. It's not a huge deal, IMO, so long as the answers are basically the 1st 2 a user coming ...
slmMod
- 361k
7
votes
Accepted
Why doesn't search find my answer?
It does seem like search just ignores code blocks; I can't find any mention of if this is intentional, it seems like an odd decision, and the meta thread about the new search engine implies that it ...
- 90.6k
7
votes
Linking to the POSIX standard text (about editions and HTML fragments)
This is the difference between bare unadorned URLs and proper citations.
Bare URLs suffer from link rot, are often undecipherable from the actual URL path once rotten, and are of no Earthly use to (...
- 66k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible