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38 votes
6 answers
1k views

What are common canonical questions for our site?

So according to the Gospel of Spolsky 13:4, a core mission of Stack Exchange communities is to stop re-answering the same questions, and instead build a library of canonical answers. When general ...
Jjed's user avatar
  • 13.9k
19 votes
1 answer
374 views

Don't start to vote for closing as duplicate for questions whose answers can't be merged

I've seen this more than once. A question with a very weird dependency issue, got an answer to it's specific problem, and later on (sometimes months), someone votes to close it against the super ...
Braiam's user avatar
  • 68.5k
10 votes
4 answers
273 views

Should we downvote duplicate questions?

I have been around for a few months now. What I notice is that the same questions keep on being asked over and over again. For instance about what ubuntu version to use, problems to install, questions ...
don.joey's user avatar
  • 29.1k
8 votes
2 answers
338 views

Where is the link to the original question when a question is closed as a duplicate?

I've looked for how to remove the unity dock from my new installation and have found two answers that were closed as exact duplicates of previous questions. What previous questions? Please update ...
NewUbuntu11.10Installed's user avatar
47 votes
1 answer
508 views

Please read -and think- before you mark as a dupe

I believe in the voting system, but not as a result of this: A while ago, this question was asked. In short, in a multi- monitor setup, OP wants to have new windows appear on the screen he is ...
Jacob Vlijm's user avatar
  • 84.9k
15 votes
4 answers
293 views

How to handle duplicate answers that add nothing?

I'm not talking about exact copying, failure to give credit, or one person passing off another person's answer as their own. Rather, I'd like to know what the best practice is when one user answers a ...
Eliah Kagan's user avatar
12 votes
4 answers
342 views

Is it okay to both answer and mark a question as duplicate?

When I find that a question is duplicate, I just caste a vote to close it. But sometimes I've got another answer to that question, in that case first I vote to close then I post my answer on the ...
Ravexina's user avatar
  • 56.5k
8 votes
1 answer
274 views

Finding questions that other questions have been closed as a dupe of

Is there a way to find questions with a high closed as dupe points here count? If there were, I think it would be a great way to get a list of questions for people with close-votes without as much ...
RobotHumans's user avatar
  • 29.9k
1 vote
3 answers
154 views

Windows 8 and Ubuntu Dual-boot: Many duplicates

It seems to me that Ask Ubuntu is flooded with questions about Windows 8 and Ubuntu dual-booting systems. Should we be concerned about SE quality and over-asked questions? Here are two examples, (...
Devyn Collier Johnson's user avatar
16 votes
3 answers
599 views

Me-too post? Or partial answer?

Where do we draw the line between "I'm having the same problem, too" posts and partial answers? This answer and its comments are what have motivated me to ask this. But I'm hoping for a ...
Eliah Kagan's user avatar
12 votes
4 answers
396 views

Messages to close voters in questions: are they OK?

It is occasional practice of some users to place message along the lines CLOSE VOTERS: please don't close this as duplicate because it is not because A,B,C. My question is this: Are we OK with ...
Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy's user avatar
12 votes
3 answers
267 views

what's up with duplicate answers?

Have a look at, for instance, this question. Someone asked for a text equivalent to wireshark, and I answered "tshark". Then some time later, someone else comes along and posts a second answer ...
poolie's user avatar
  • 9,329
12 votes
0 answers
549 views

Let's stop using "How do I resolve unmet dependencies?" for dpkg questions (and probably for most apt questions)

The most used close target for apt/dpkg questions is this. However, that does not help if the problem is not with apt but with the underlying dpkg. I very often find things like these when I check ...
Braiam's user avatar
  • 68.5k
8 votes
2 answers
265 views

Are there certain circumstances where one should close an old question as the duplicate of a new one?

Are there certain circumstances where one should close an old question as the duplicate of a new one (for instance if the new one is better and actually has answers)? And if not, then why does the ...
user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
107 views

I've found a duplicate user; what should I do?

I just stumbled upon this question: I can't install Ubuntu 13.04 on a new computer And in the sidebar for this question I found this Related question: I can't install Ubuntu 13.04 on a new ...
strugee's user avatar
  • 1,092
34 votes
1 answer
1k views

Don't be too eager to answer a question you know the answer of

Readme This question is not a personal complaint towards anyone. That's the reason I'd rather not give examples and I don't think I need to. The question is a call to be a bit more aware of what we ...
Jacob Vlijm's user avatar
  • 84.9k
18 votes
1 answer
360 views

Let's consolidate "black screen on boot" questions

We have 858 questions about this, it's probably time to consolidate this into one good CW and start duping things instead of having it all over the site, so we made this: My computer boots to a ...
Jorge Castro's user avatar
  • 72.9k
16 votes
2 answers
275 views

What can we do about high traffic duplicates?

Upgrade Ubuntu 10.04 to 11.04 is a duplicate question, merged with the more general How to Upgrade from a very old release to the latest. The problem? How to Upgrade has about nine thousand views. ...
Jjed's user avatar
  • 13.9k
15 votes
1 answer
388 views

Please don't be too eager to delete duplicates

On the occasion of this question, about losing rep over deletion of this one Rubbish does not belong on the site. After a question has been marked as unclear, off-topic or too broad, one might ...
Jacob Vlijm's user avatar
  • 84.9k
15 votes
2 answers
254 views

Should a question be flagged as duplicate even if the question (older) pointed to as the duplicate has no answers?

I have encountered this predicament when reviewing posted questions and answers on AU. Should I flag a question as a duplicate even if the older question pointed to as the duplicate has no answers ...
Peachy's user avatar
  • 7,177
14 votes
3 answers
294 views

Why is it allowed for an older question to be marked as a duplicate of a newer question?

This is my question, asked way back in 2010 with a lot of upvotes and many useful answers. In late July of this year it was marked as a duplicate of this question, filed in 2013. Why was this done? ...
javanix's user avatar
  • 1,803
13 votes
2 answers
238 views

Do we need a canonical partition recovery question? How shall we make it?

We have many questions about how to recover a whole partition. Typically it's an NTFS partition, destroyed by telling Ubiquity to install Ubuntu using the entire disk instead of alongside other ...
Eliah Kagan's user avatar
11 votes
1 answer
265 views

Duplicate question note

As regular way I used to, I got interested in a question then I looked for duplicates. 2 other similar questions without answers. I've an answer so to post it, I had checked reputations, last login, ...
user.dz's user avatar
  • 48.7k
8 votes
1 answer
256 views

Dupe but no dupe

Marking/closing questions as a duplicate is a delicate subject, and there is a thin line between whether a post is a duplicate or not. This one however hurts my eyes. While OP clearly mentions he ...
Jacob Vlijm's user avatar
  • 84.9k
8 votes
2 answers
210 views

Which questions should be duplicated and which not? [duplicate]

There has been some discussion over the issue of questions being flagged as duplicate. There was a issue been brought up. Question should not be flagged duplicate if answers can't be merged. As an ...
Registered User's user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
127 views

How to handle chains of "duplicate of..."?

Sometimes one post (P1) is commented "possible duplicate of P2". P2 itself is commented "possible duplicate of P3". Example: https://askubuntu.com/questions/246610/how-to-increase-battery-duration-...
guntbert's user avatar
  • 8,486
7 votes
1 answer
200 views

Failed first post audit by flagging as a duplicate. Is it correct?

While reviewing the first posts queue, I failed the following audit: https://askubuntu.com/review/first-posts/799873 After I looked at the question, I just thought: “That must have been answered ...
Melebius's user avatar
  • 11.6k
6 votes
3 answers
180 views

How can a new user escalate an old unanswered question?

This question comes via an anonymous submission to Ask Slashdot: The problem with "Ask Ubuntu" Say a new user has a problem, searches Ask Ubuntu and the UNIX site for a solution, and comes across an ...
Damian Yerrick's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
66 views

Duplicate questions

If I want to ask a question that has already been asked,but I can't understand its solution.Should I comment there for more explanation or ask mine by adding duplicate by myself.
Rahul Raj's user avatar
  • 620
3 votes
0 answers
185 views

Some merge candidates for Windows 7 and Ubuntu dual-booting questions

This looked a bit unwieldy for flagging, so I'm posting this here instead. I've looked through several of the dual-boot questions, trying to find ones that looked like duplicates. I have found ...
belacqua's user avatar
  • 23.4k
2 votes
1 answer
79 views

Should a question be closed as duplicate of another when it is asking for the same goal but via a different route?

I recently closed a question as a duplicate of another, however I am starting to think that I may have made a mistake here along with the other close voters... So just to make it easier, let's refer ...
user avatar
2 votes
3 answers
105 views

Duplicates Policy Incentivizes Clutter Rather Than Canonical

Disadvantages of Current Duplicates Policy Stated briefly, the current policy encourages proliferation over pruning. The disadvantages of the current duplicates policy stem from the fact that it is ...
jtd's user avatar
  • 2,375
2 votes
1 answer
83 views

Reopen 388541 that asks the why's not the how's

This question of mine was closed on the basis that I'm asking the same question... I'm not. I specifically ask the "Why apt-get install update fails" (which normally people try to update their systems)...
Braiam's user avatar
  • 68.5k
2 votes
2 answers
74 views

Merging difficulty

MY question is how difficult is it to merge questions? Over my time here I've requested merging on a number of questions. I recently ran across this question which I flagged as duplicate after ...
Elder Geek's user avatar
  • 36.4k
1 vote
1 answer
39 views

Does time get considered in deciding Duplicate Questions?

A while back HWE for 14.04 was released and people had a bit of trouble upgrading to the new update. Which is fine and all. However, I came on site today to see this question flagged as dup to this ...
Virusboy's user avatar
  • 1,566
1 vote
2 answers
65 views

Can older questions be closed as duplicates of newer questions in special circumstances on meta?

Here on meta, sometimes issues arise, and then arise again later as circumstances change. Is it appropriate, in such a situation, to close older questions about a topic as duplicates of a newer ...
Eliah Kagan's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
47 views

How to deal with higher quality duplicate questions?

Occasionally on a stack exchange, one will have a very precise question cited as a duplicate to a very broad question, or one will have a very clear and straight to the point question cited as a ...
Anon's user avatar
  • 12.2k
0 votes
1 answer
108 views

Closed as exact duplicate -> where is the solution?

Mu question Can I do an install onto a 4GB usb stick which is smaller than the recommended installation size? was closed as exact duplicate with a url to possible duplicate answer. Currently I have ...
Radek's user avatar
  • 175