-11

I came across a question from a newbie SO user (but not new to program or the platform) which had been flagged as a duplicate, but it was not really one. It had 2-3 downvotes. It has since been removed. My concern is that it was not really a duplicate of the referenced question. Particularly, the answers in the referenced question would not have answered the given question.

I also found that I was not able to 'answer' the question (likely because it had a negative score).

My understanding is that a few reviewers flagged the question as a duplicate, then a few others downvoted it (without any explanation) and then a bot deleted it.

Is this how it's supposed to be? Is there anything else I could have done?

Edit 1: The OP reverted on one of my queries, so I am aware of the fact that he read it.

Edit 2: On why this is not a duplicate of others:

  1. The others only discuss flagging a question as a duplicate. Mine is intended to cover the loss of information resulting in deletion as well, post the deletion.

    The only exception I can see is the OP requesting for deletion especially if an answer was found either in the comments or by the OP themselves. If an answer was present in the comments and such a post was deleted, that would still be loss of information.

  2. The post was not deleted since I was able to access it and comment. But answers below indicate that it would need to be deleted for a question to be non-answerable.

27
  • 1
    If you couldn't answer the question it was because it was already closed, not because of the downvotes.
    – Bill the Lizard
    Commented Jan 26, 2016 at 21:07
  • 1
    Also, what does "reverted on one of my queries" mean?
    – Bill the Lizard
    Commented Jan 26, 2016 at 21:08
  • @BilltheLizard There was no 'this question is closed' or similar info block. There should be one right?
    – Ravindra HV
    Commented Jan 26, 2016 at 21:09
  • related: meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/252252/…
    – rene
    Commented Jan 26, 2016 at 21:09
  • 1
    @RavindraHV If you couldn't answer the question, then it was closed or it had already been deleted. Probably closed, by the sounds of it.
    – Servy
    Commented Jan 26, 2016 at 21:10
  • @BilltheLizard I had included a query wondering whether the OP was new just to SO or programming or not to which the OP reverted on being new to SO.
    – Ravindra HV
    Commented Jan 26, 2016 at 21:12
  • 1
    If you happen to still have a link to the question (for instance in your browser history), that would help a lot here, so 10k+ users can see some context, and maybe better explain what happened. (It would also help clarify some of the odd terms you're using.)
    – Kendra
    Commented Jan 26, 2016 at 21:13
  • 1
    the OP reverted on being new to SO - I think you want to say "replied" or "responded" instead of "reverted". Revert means to undo something.
    – BSMP
    Commented Jan 26, 2016 at 21:19
  • 1
    Do you have the link to the comment still in your inbox? If so, please click it and post the link here
    – rene
    Commented Jan 26, 2016 at 21:42
  • 1
    @rene Link to comment from OP in inbox stackoverflow.com/posts/comments/57771656. Thanks !
    – Ravindra HV
    Commented Jan 26, 2016 at 21:54
  • 2
    here is the screenshot. The question was dupe hammered by a gold tag badge holder and then deleted by the owner. You could have reached the duplicate voter by @reply-ing to him. Looking at the question I don;'t think it should be un-deleted as I think the duplicate is a good match.
    – rene
    Commented Jan 26, 2016 at 21:57
  • 5
    @RavindraHV Sure looks like a duplicate to me. I see nothing there to indicate that it's not a duplicate. Your comment indicating that the OP should roll his own sorting algorithm just because he wants to compare a property of the items instead of the items themselves is borderline irresponsible, as far as I'm concerned. The answer in the duplicate is the correct answer.
    – Servy
    Commented Jan 26, 2016 at 21:59
  • 2
    @RavindraHV When you click the link to go to the question, it says "This question was voluntarily removed by its author." OP deleted it himself.
    – Kendra
    Commented Jan 26, 2016 at 22:15
  • 3
    @RavindraHV "if someone were to copy-paste the implementation in the answer marked duplicate, it would not have resolved the OP's question" - that is not at all how duplicates work. That would warrant a new question for everyone who wants to sort on a class property, because they all have a different name... When a question is closed as duplicate, some thinking may still be required.
    – CodeCaster
    Commented Jan 26, 2016 at 23:10
  • 1
    @CodeCaster but ...but... I like that green color ... :(
    – rene
    Commented Jan 27, 2016 at 8:01

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
8

If the answers in the duplicate post wouldn't answer the question, then edit the question to explain why those answers wouldn't solve the problem at hand.

You can still post answers to negatively scored questions. If the question was closed it would prevent answers. That's the purpose of closing questions.

Unless the post was closed for a reason other than being a duplicate, it wouldn't have been deleted automatically. Either the author, a mod, or 3 users with 10k rep would needed to have voted to close the question to delete it.

5
  • I'm OK with this answer but it would be a duplicate of the question I left as a comment. What is different here is this user is not the OP. Do you still think the question should be edited by another user?
    – rene
    Commented Jan 26, 2016 at 21:12
  • @rene If it wouldn't be changing the meaning of the question, sure.
    – Servy
    Commented Jan 26, 2016 at 21:14
  • I would edit it only in case I thought there was a problem with it. I think the OP would have wanted to deleted it (not sure why). Which I guess is what happened. But its still loss of information. As per me it should atleast be available to those who participated. For the record if nothing else.
    – Ravindra HV
    Commented Jan 26, 2016 at 21:30
  • 2
    @RavindraHV Posts aren't hard deleted. The OP or users with 10k+ rep can still access the question, so long as they've got a link to it. So it is still available, just not to you and me (for instance) since we don't have enough rep to access it.
    – Kendra
    Commented Jan 26, 2016 at 21:48
  • @Kendra Found link to comment in inbox and posted same above. Thank you !
    – Ravindra HV
    Commented Jan 26, 2016 at 21:55

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .