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An installation question was recently closed as off topic: https://askubuntu.com/questions/364945/server-13-10-install-hangs/364949.

I kind of understand the reasoning - it turns out the problem was a bug. The "auto reply" in the close message even stated it:

Bug reports and problems with the development version of Ubuntu should be reported on Launchpad so that developers can see, track and fix these issues...

First piece of brokenness:

How is one supposed to know bugs in advance? If I knew it was a bug, wouldn't the developers know it was a bug in advance? If developers knew it was a bug, wouldn't it have been fixed before being released?

Second piece of brokenness:

enter image description here

Why would Ubuntu moderators delete the comment with a link to the bug report (requested in the "close" comment")? What is the purpose of forcing users to hunt for a bug report? Assuming a user does not see a deleted comment, how does a user even know the bug report exists?

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  • Thanks NukT. I agree reporting bugs is important. I try to file the appropriate reports (like the one in question). What was the point of removing the follow up comment and link to the bug report so people following me with the same problem could easily find the bug report?
    – user207039
    Commented Dec 8, 2013 at 8:11
  • I don't know what was the purpose of comment deletion. Maybe the moderator wanted to point you on(the right direction) edit your question and add the bug report there instead. Also restructure your question and ask for a workaround.(the accepted answer is already there as I can see). After that you can also request a reopen.
    – NickTux
    Commented Dec 8, 2013 at 8:27
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    That looks like a "answer" not a comment... Which would make that "Not an Answer"
    – Mateo
    Commented Dec 8, 2013 at 13:57

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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Since I didn't deal with this particular flag, these are my views as an AU user not as a moderator...

There are a few phrases that become red-flags in the eyes of users -

  • hang
  • freeze
  • crash
  • bug

AU is a member of the Stack Exchange network. Its mission (paraphrasing) is to become the sum of useful knowledge for all well defined questions.

The red-flags I talked about are aberrations - out of the ordinary issues that affected one or small numbers of people & systems.

The question started off talking about a "hang" - thus this should start ringing alarm-bells. These aberrations are bugs - stuff that shouldn’t in reality ever exist and as such need to be fixed. Software development is rarely perfect. Thus problems do exist after release. On-going support resolves these.

AU is not a bug-tracker nor (rarely) a bug-fixing site.

Issues that affect individuals rarely contribute to the sum of useful knowledge that SE strives for. Those types of queries and issues should exist on bug-tracking sites such as Launchpad.

The close-voters most probably followed the same train of thought and pointed you in that direction.

As to the moderation aspect. You yourself added the "informational: bug report" comment. Looking at your profile, you are an experienced Stack Exchange user and should recognize, comments do not - and should never - exist as an answer by itself. These comments should be part of a question (your question) or as a real comment under the question.

Since you own the question, you can re-edit your question to add that further piece of information.

and thanks

Thank-you for linking that other question. This falls into the same red-flag category and as such has been similarly closed.

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    Is it possible moderators aren't using the convert to comment function enough? Links to bug reports are important, too important to just delete like that IMO.
    – Seth
    Commented Dec 8, 2013 at 19:02

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