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I noticed this old software-recommendation question is closed (rightfully so, imo) as "too broad": Video editing software options?

I also noticed it has attracted some delete votes too.

Does it make sense to completely get rid of this question? Or is it better to just lock the post (or put a disclaimer-banner) because of its "historical significance" like the following ones?

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2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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I have now closed the question again, it is really not a good question for SE and really shouldn't be open. However, it is a useful collection and as karel points out, is linked to by many other questions so I don't see what benefit there would be in deleting it.

The question has now been closed and I added a "historical significance" notice to it:

This question exists because it has historical significance, but it is not considered a good, on-topic question for this site, so please do not use it as evidence that you can ask similar questions here. This question and its answers are frozen and cannot be changed. More info: help center.

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  • Thanks! I also thought that's best course of action.
    – pomsky
    Commented Apr 3, 2018 at 13:25
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    I agree with the question being closed and locked, but I didn't think it was off topic (rather than too broad, which I think it is)... why is this question off topic?
    – Zanna Mod
    Commented Apr 3, 2018 at 16:33
  • @Zanna I think it's marked as "primarily opinion-based", not "off topic"
    – pomsky
    Commented Apr 3, 2018 at 18:19
  • @pomsky yes, I see that and I am OK with that reason too. But terdon's answer says "it is completely off topic" so I'm seeking clarification, because my understanding (based on previous meta posts) is that questions asking for software recommendations on Ubuntu are not off topic, they just need to be suitably focussed to avoid getting closed as too broad or perhaps POB. But maybe there is another reason why this is off topic that I have missed.
    – Zanna Mod
    Commented Apr 3, 2018 at 18:25
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    @terdon No.
    – pomsky
    Commented Apr 3, 2018 at 18:29
  • @pomsky you're absolutely right. My bad.
    – terdon Mod
    Commented Apr 3, 2018 at 18:32
  • @Zanna I use "off topic" as a blanket term for "questions that don't belong here". Quite possibly mistakenly, but that's how I think of it. But I edited the answer to avoid the term. My point was that the question doesn't fit AU.
    – terdon Mod
    Commented Apr 3, 2018 at 19:28
  • Using "off-topic" that way seems perfectly reasonable. I'm not even exactly sure what I mean by "off-topic" now I think about it (something to do with how the close reasons are arranged I guess), so probably other people don't share my interpretation! Anyway, to me at least this answer seems completely clear now so +1
    – Zanna Mod
    Commented Apr 3, 2018 at 19:42
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I recommend not deleting this question because it is a very useful question according to these metrics.

  1. It has 95 upvotes and has been viewed 122,813 times.

  2. 20 questions are linked to it, and of those 20 questions 13 were closed as duplicates of it.

Beyond that in my opinion it would be more appropriate to reopen this question than it would be to delete it as it has proven its worth over the years. This question has been reopened 12 hours after I originally posted this answer which removed its two existing delete votes, and it was also protected by Elder Geek 9 hours ago. Afterwards it was put on hold again as primarily opinion-based and locked with an explanatory accompanying message that said:

This question exists because it has historical significance, but it is not considered a good, on-topic question for this site...

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    -1 for the suggestion to reopen. That question is a classic example of "too broad" and "primarily opinion based". It has no business being open and would have been closed immediately if it were posted today.
    – terdon Mod
    Commented Apr 3, 2018 at 11:06
  • Sure, reopening is better than deleting. Absolutely. Next time, you can also raise a custom mod flag on it, letting us know a useful question is about to be deleted.
    – terdon Mod
    Commented Apr 3, 2018 at 11:59
  • I'll probably try the custom mod flag if a similar situation occurs again because it's a better way of doing it.
    – karel
    Commented Apr 3, 2018 at 12:01

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