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Few minutes after I posted a question it was edited twice ... but the edits were not constructive in any way:

  • "Kubuntu Quantal" was changed to "Kubuntu 12.10"
  • "doing fine" was changed to "working fine"
  • "Macbook 8,2" was changed to "MacBook 8.2" (which is wrong if you strictly obey sudo dmidecode -s system-product-name)

Other than that, no comments, answers or votes were left.

In my opinion, this is truly not in the spirit of Stack Exchange. On quick judgment, this looks like some users try to strictly enforce their view of how Ubuntu versions should be mentioned and what conversational style micro-modalities should be used here.

Isn't there a general rule active to prevent such actions?

(... or is this possible on purpose, so we all earn the clean-up badge?)

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    We only have some guidelines with regards to editing people's posts. You can see them here - askubuntu.com/privileges/edit
    – jokerdino Mod
    Commented Jun 2, 2013 at 15:36
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    I take offense, I don't hunt for badges, I try to improve posts, as did the orginal editor. More to the point: 12.10 is much more clear than Quantal in the long run (if wee need the version at all).
    – guntbert
    Commented Jun 2, 2013 at 15:39
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    @guntbert Well the Ubuntu community wiki begs to differ - as can be seen by their URI structure: help.ubuntu.com/community/MacBookPro8-2/Quantal (comma to dash by necessity)
    – arney
    Commented Jun 2, 2013 at 15:42
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    If an edit removes bold it's a good edit.
    – Seth
    Commented Jun 2, 2013 at 22:21

3 Answers 3

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I see no need for any such rule. There are such things as badge hunters. There are such things as minor editors. There is nothing we can do about this.

Now something to point out is that the second edit was made by a reviewer (guntbert) of the first edit.

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enter image description here

Now he decided to approve the edit, but remove the bold and add a tag. A perfectly valid choice.

Now personally, a comma instead of a period looks weird next to numbers, but it isn't something I would edit for; and, when referring to something like a microphone, working fine makes more sense than doing fine. Again, nothing I would edit for.

Now you might have figured out by now; edits are subjective. Everyone has a different, perfectly valid, opinion. Like the FAQ states if you have a problem with people being able to edit your posts this probably isn't the place for you. Try the Ubuntu forums.

If someone changed something you were particularly partial to, just role the edit back and move on.

There is no need to complain, no need to argue. It's a big world ;-)

note: If another user starts an edit war, repeatably editing something you have rolled back, custom flag the post and a moderator will take a look.

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    Ah, okay, now I get why SX asked me to review the edit ... but when I came back, there was nothing to review. I never realized how much my question is not my question any more when I put it on SX - considering that everyone with a little reputation can nip and tuck at it.
    – arney
    Commented Jun 2, 2013 at 23:57
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    @arney Yeah, by the time you got to the edit it had already been reviewed. Remember, this isn't a forum, it's more of a knowledge base. So nothing is really "yours" per se.
    – Seth
    Commented Jun 3, 2013 at 0:13
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    Well, on the forum ubuntuusers.de, you can edit other peoples profile pages. So at least that one is mine on SX. I can hez speling mistekes and bed gremmer there
    – arney
    Commented Jun 3, 2013 at 6:56
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We don't use the animal nicknames of a release here, we use the version number and the animal name is a development nickname until it's released.

Either way the question itself wasn't very descriptive so I retitled it. Also why complain about someone trying to help out your question? You get a bump to the front page for free!

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    Well if someone edits a question just to have formulations the way he likes them, it's hard to see how this is helpful. It more easily leaves other with the impression that someone has a big ego and seeks to correct anyone even if there's no measurable improvement to be gained
    – arney
    Commented Jun 2, 2013 at 19:36
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    @arney If you feel like that I'm afraid that's your problem. Yes too minor edits are annoying, but so is complaining. Especially when it's about something you have no control over.
    – Seth
    Commented Jun 2, 2013 at 22:24
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More often than not, edits are made to improve the quality of the post, usually to fix spelling and grammatical errata.

For your particular case, it seems like the suggested edit is a bit too minor and I would have rejected for not making 'substantial improvements' to the post. But each reviewer has their own subjective judgment on reviewing edits.

Anyway, you are strongly recommended to use the version number instead of the code names because the code names are only used when the version is in active development. The name is retired as soon as the version is released. But, that alone is not a good reason enough to edit a question.

And to repeat what I mentioned in the comments, we can't enforce any kind of a rule with suggested edits. We can only provide guidelines on edits and hope they are given a thought about.

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    You can't enforce a rule? But isn't that a strong suit of StackExchange? Like "protected questions" where members are required more than 10 credits to even comment and such. One reason I post this on meta is to see if some can think of a good rule.
    – arney
    Commented Jun 2, 2013 at 19:31
  • You forgot to mention the boldez.
    – Seth
    Commented Jun 2, 2013 at 22:23
  • @arney A suggested edit is just suggested and must be reviewed and approved in order to be accepted. I see no need for a rule in this case as there are already checks and balances in place.
    – Elder Geek
    Commented Jun 3, 2016 at 15:35

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