Should Ubuntu Software Center links be edited?

Question

Sometimes I encounter answers that suggest installing packages from Ubuntu Software Center written before 2015, for example, this answer. Ubuntu Software Center was discontinued in 2015 and now all links to Ubuntu Software Center redirects to Snapcraft homepage. Moreover almost all links are broken now, for example, Netbeans - Ubuntu Software Center redirects to Snapcraft Store while it should redirect it to Netbeans - Snapcraft(hopefully).

Since it is necessary to keep answers here on Ask Ubuntu up-to-date so that they can be helpful for current and future readers/visitors. In that scenario, should community members who encounter such links edit the links, leave a note in comments or just leave them as it is to preserve the history?

Answer 1

I'd say it depends on the question.

If it is still current it should be fixed.

I would rather see someone do this directly on the database instead of editing every question manually. Try not to flood the frontpage while editting. If there is one thing that makes me leave AU for a day it is seeing 20 topics on the FP I don't want to click on.

Answer 2

Treat these answers as if version-specific¹. For example, we don't want to edit answers for 13.04 release to add information for 18.04 release ( unless it's absolutely necessary and relevant ). Same approach applies here: if the answer relied on Software Center specifically, editing the links out of the answer affects the original intent of the poster. As much as we like to keep everything current, some answers have to remain as they are for historical value and context. They may still be useful and the software might be installed from other means (apt,snaps,github, etc), so full answer removal is undesirable². Questions also may be specific to the time when they were posted.

Better approach would be to post a comment under the answer (or better yet under the question in bold text) to draw attention that the links won't work. If you know alternative method of installing the desired software - edit the answer to add that information. You can add a note in bold with the date of the edit saying "the instructions/links may not work, but here's alternative approach".

Adding new answer is also an option (if the question's context allows) and IMHO a much better approach. Users can see which answer is the newest and you can explicitly mention in your own answer that the accepted answer may be outdated. Adding a new answer or editing existing one (without removing links) helps future/current visitors much more effectively.

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^{1. This is a comparison; I'm not saying "treat x exactly as y", rather "treat x with similar approach as y".}

^{2. In cases where answers are outdated we sometimes may see those either downvoted or removed per community request, hence why I mentioned full removal here. As mentioned in this StackOverflow meta answer, answers are timestamped and anyone can figure out that the contents may be outdated, including links. Downvotes/removals don't add value and have no "timestamp" context.}

Answer 3

NO

Case in point: The ppa in the first answer you linked is also not available any more. If we start to run after every link, ppa or repository that has been replaced ... then we'd not have time for anything else.

BUT

Nothing prevents you from leaving another answer, with a current solution.

OR

Write a comment to the answer, alerting the user that this answer does not work currently.

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Also, I think we don't have to keep answers up-to-date via editing. Old solutions still have value! While some questions are generic and can be updated with new solutions or caveats that old solutions don't work any more, others are specific to setups, hardware, software.... etc and might work for a group of people.