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It's a story you hear all too often. I asked a question. I got some answers. They showed effort so I voted them up. I found some time to actually try them out. Then... I changed my mind and did something completely different, rendering my original question pointless (for me at least). In the meantime, the question does not appear to have helped anyone else either - and imho this situation is not going to change soon. Even if it was answered "correctly" I have no way of testing and honestly accepting an answer.

So I tried to delete it, and was told that I couldn't.

I don't like having unanswered questions, so I want to either delete it or otherwise abandon it to the wolves. Is there a suitable flag for this?

TLDR: I am convinced of the uselessness of my question to me and future generations, despite it having answers. How do I get rid of it?

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    Why not just post an answer with what you did that was totally different, mark it accepted and move on?
    – Marco Ceppi Mod
    Commented Dec 30, 2013 at 14:37
  • At least link to the question so the rest of us can look at it and check it out ourselves!
    – Jorge Castro
    Commented Dec 30, 2013 at 14:42
  • @Marco in some cases, I significantly changed my goal (e.g. dual boot Windows 7 vs Windows 8) and therefore the basis of the question
    – lofidevops
    Commented Dec 31, 2013 at 7:37
  • @Jorge this is like the third time this has happened to me, so I'm deliberately asking about the general case rather than the specific question I want to leave out in the cold on new year's eve :D - but I will be using all the great advice here to decide now and in future if it's meta-able or flag-able
    – lofidevops
    Commented Dec 31, 2013 at 7:39

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
2

Ask a mod ™

Flag, explain yourself, wait.

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  • :) by ticket do you mean a) just flag it or b) post a question on meta for each such question
    – lofidevops
    Commented Dec 30, 2013 at 8:55
  • 1
    Sorted, vacation mode still. :)
    – Bruno Pereira Mod
    Commented Dec 30, 2013 at 8:57
  • vacation mode for me too - I kept thinking "what do I need to sort? what order do I sort it in?"
    – lofidevops
    Commented Dec 30, 2013 at 9:00
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You could always flag it and let the 10ks and moderators make the call. But you're already weighing up the right questions. Here's the full spectrum:

  • Could it still be useful to somebody else? If it's really obscure, we could just nuke it.
  • Could other people declare technical merit? Couldn't they pick your accepted answer by voting for the right answer?
  • Does the effort shown in answers outweigh a dislike of "having unanswered questions"? Wanting a clean account is a desirable thing but it shouldn't come at the cost of utility and respect.
  • If we can, can we dupe this against something else and merge your answers in?

If you can provide us a decent, utilitarian, respectful suggestion for resolution when you flag it, it'll make the job a lot easier and a lot quicker.

If you want a more public opinion on how to progress you're free to post about a specific question in meta but ultimately it's us you'll need to convince :)

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  • thanks Oli, I appreciate the tips on how to approach the assessment
    – lofidevops
    Commented Dec 30, 2013 at 9:03

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