1

It is somewhat common for a question to be off-topic because it is too bug-report like. This is certainly a legitimate reason for closing a question. One problem, however, is that unless there is a way of subsequently adding a link to a bug-report, the (closed) question is useless to anyone who might stumble across it through AU or search-engine searches. Take for example this question.

It would be much better if anyone (not just the OP) was able to link one or more bug-reports to the closed question, while not being able to add additional comments/answers. This way if a bug report were to be created later which happens to match the AU question, a link can be added, making it easier for others to find the bug-report and contribute to it.

2
  • Anyone can edit the question... So I don't understand what you mean..
    – Seth
    Mar 25, 2013 at 22:43
  • @Seth For people other than the OP, especially in situations where there are no more than a few comments already posted, I think posting a comment with the bug link is probably preferable. It's certainly easier, and unless special formatting is used in the question, this way probably makes the bug link more visible. Mar 25, 2013 at 22:44

1 Answer 1

5

Closing a question doesn't keep comments from being posted. Both the OP and others can post comments on closed questions.

Closing a question prevents answers from being posted. A question that is closed must also be locked (or deleted) to prevent comments from being posted. Locking is rare (especially long-term locking--usually a post is locked for a short time while a dispute about it is resolved). Deletion prevents most people from seeing the post, so there is probably not much value associated with adding a new feature to allow bug links to be added to deleted posts.

Therefore, it seems like the feature being requested already exists. The OP, or anyone who knows about it, can post a comment on the closed question with a link to the bug report. Since this is fundamentally the sort of information that belongs in comments (and not in answers or elsewhere), this existing solution is probably already good.

If you're wondering why people so often don't post links to bug reports on their questions--perhaps they don't know it's valuable to do so, or don't realize it's considered appropriate. Perhaps they never come back to Ask Ubuntu after they are told to report the bug, or after their question is closed (until they have another question). But the ability to post information with a bug link, that they already have.

Please note that there is another way to post a link to a bug report, which might be considered good: The OP can edit the bug link into their question, perhaps inside a blockquote at the end of the question so it looks like a banner and is easily identifiable and distinguishable from any automatically placed banners. (This could be done by other users too, of course, but unless we decide this is an ideal way to provide the information, I think it would probably be more appropriate to give bug links on other people's questions in a comment.)

3
  • 2
    How did I know as soon as I pressed "Add Comment" an Eliah Answer™ would pop up O_o
    – Seth
    Mar 25, 2013 at 22:43
  • I think this is fair enough - that comments can be used for adding links to bug-reports, however there are two potential drawbacks: (1) the comment is buried and not easily/quickly seen, and (2) users might not realize / know that it's appropriate to use comments in this capacity for closed questions. If these issues could be addressed in some way or another, I think that would help.
    – Mark
    Apr 1, 2013 at 20:51
  • I would think a link from the bug report to the askubuntu question might also be useful....
    – Thufir
    Oct 4, 2014 at 2:15

You must log in to answer this question.

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