My opinion only:

Duplicates get closed instead of deleted for several reasons.

• seo
• adding search terms without modifying the meaning of the original question
• having duplicates closed allows a central way to put all the answers in one place
  • (read as merge)

Here's a specific example where something got closed and merged to put an answer that merited being seen into the original question.

It was originally intended to be an ISO mount/burn question for Ubuntu only. A later question was asked about burning an Ubuntu ISO for Windows.

It makes more sense to have a single ISO burning question. It keeps the site clean and centralises canonical answers. This way we can have one place to point a user with that type of problem.

My opinion only:

Duplicates get closed instead of deleted for several reasons.

• seo
• adding search terms without modifying the meaning of the original question
• having duplicates closed allows a central way to put all the answers in one place
  • (read as merge)

Here's a specific example where something got closed and merged to put an answer that merited being seen into the original question.

It was originally intended to be an ISO mount/burn question for Ubuntu only. A later question was asked about burning an Ubuntu ISO for Windows.

It makes more sense to have a single ISO burning question. It keeps the site clean and centralises canonical answers. This way we can have one place to point a user with that type of problem.