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Possible Duplicate:
Discussions should not be marked as duplicate

Could we please stop closing duplication questions on Meta? There have been several questions discussing problems with Server Fault and every one gets closed and directed to Jeff Atwood's question. Of course, new posts to old questions never go anywhere so it essentially kills off the discussion.

What's the point?

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    Sure you have a better argument than "please stop"
    – Juan Manuel
    Commented Nov 17, 2009 at 19:50
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    Obligatory duplicate list: meta.stackexchange.com/questions/28612/1, meta.stackexchange.com/questions/8578/2, arguably meta.stackexchange.com/questions/10841/3 ...
    – Dr. Gonzo
    Commented Nov 17, 2009 at 19:55
  • no................
    – DLux
    Commented Nov 17, 2009 at 19:56
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    Yes. What's the fundamental difference between this and 28612 or 8578?
    – Dr. Gonzo
    Commented Nov 17, 2009 at 19:58
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    Hmmm, you tagged this as a rant. I have a feeling this will end up like every other question tagged "rant" ... downvoted.
    – Troggy
    Commented Nov 17, 2009 at 20:03
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    You know what DLux? You're right. That question shouldn't have been closed as a duplicate. I'm sorry. It should have been closed as NOT A REAL QUESTION.
    – Pollyanna
    Commented Nov 17, 2009 at 20:09
  • How about I re-ask it as a real question and one that's clearly different from Jeff's: "Why are people leaving ServerFault?"
    – Ward
    Commented Nov 17, 2009 at 20:26
  • Aren't the answers going to be essentially the same, though? It's merely a different form of the same primary issue.
    – Pollyanna
    Commented Nov 17, 2009 at 20:34
  • Possibly/probably, and for now I have just added what I had asked as an answer to Jeff's question. I still there might be some value in a discussion that is primarily among SF posters to clarify what might be "wrong" with SF that could be improved.
    – Ward
    Commented Nov 17, 2009 at 20:41
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    closed wwwwwwww
    – Weblog
    Commented Nov 17, 2009 at 20:55
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    Oh, the irony of this being closed as a duplicate, it maketh me happy.
    – Matt Ball
    Commented Nov 17, 2009 at 21:04
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    The strictness here on meta is laughable. This is meta, for goodness sake! I mean, if we can't talk here, where can we?
    – Jonesome Reinstate Monica
    Commented Oct 17, 2013 at 0:56

5 Answers 5

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No.

If you don't have anything to contribute to the original discussion, then what's the point of starting it all anew?

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    +1; even on Meta we need to keep our house clean.
    – Dr. Gonzo
    Commented Nov 17, 2009 at 20:01
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    Especially on meta; we've got a huge number of dupes rehashing the same issues, that I wish we could just merge into one central uber-question for each topic.
    – Ether
    Commented Nov 17, 2009 at 20:04
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New posts to old questions never go anywhere so it essentially kills off the discussion.

Conversely, new questions rehashing previous discussions go around in circles and accomplish nothing.

It's far better to keep discussion on a given issue in one question so everything can be referenced from one location. Otherwise inefficient repetition occurs.

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Instead of As well as simply closing (and deleting) these as dupes, IMHO the moderators should be merging all the posts into the original discussion so that the feedback can be seen in one place. I agree that there is a problem with SF, and meta is the place to discuss it, so let's gather the information together and continue discussing!

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    I would say "in addition to" instead of "instead of." They need to be closed as dupes, but additionally the merge should absolutely be done.
    – Dr. Gonzo
    Commented Nov 17, 2009 at 20:17
  • @John/Cigars: yes, that is of course what I meant :) and IMHO not enough deleting of closed questions is done; once a dupe has been folded into the original it should be deleted so it stops turning up in search results and causing further confusion.
    – Ether
    Commented Nov 17, 2009 at 20:59
  • Agreed on all parts with the edit & latest comment, +1. (And I apparently have 5 votes left today ... )
    – Dr. Gonzo
    Commented Nov 17, 2009 at 21:39
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Responding to an old question just does not work as a way of starting a conversation.

Now I'm not sure if Meta is the place to discuss Stack Overflow, but if it is, then there should be a tag where you can talk with others without fear of being marked a duplicate. Most conversations start with a question about the weather, and maybe many of them are duplicate, but they have some value to the people that participate.

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    Try starting 20 different "weather" conversations with the same person, when the weather hasn't changed. See how that works out...
    – Shog9
    Commented Nov 17, 2009 at 20:40
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    Meta is the place to talk about StackOverflow.
    – Troggy
    Commented Nov 17, 2009 at 20:47
  • Noise is noise, no matter what site you're on. But yes, Meta is the place to talk about StackOverflow, SuperUser and ServerFault.
    – Dr. Gonzo
    Commented Nov 17, 2009 at 20:51
  • Somehow, "Promises to be a nice weekend" is a more productive opener than "I wanna talk about this bug in your code"
    – Andomar
    Commented Nov 17, 2009 at 20:53
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    Ok: Its a bright and sunny day here in the Southern US - oh, and your response is still wrong. Did that really help?
    – AnonJr
    Commented Nov 17, 2009 at 21:04
  • It's raining in Chicagoland, but I have to give @AnonJr +1 for that. Sorry @Andomar, I'm still -1 on your answer here. Noise is noise, no matter how it starts. :)
    – Dr. Gonzo
    Commented Nov 17, 2009 at 21:41
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No, because many of Jeff's questions are some of the best discussions on all of meta.

If you have more to add to the discussion, edit or add more to the existing question. The community growth question is only ~3 weeks old. It hasn't been around forever. Everything said in that question is still completely relevant.

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  • 3 weeks is old. Add an answer, see if you get any feedback.
    – DLux
    Commented Nov 17, 2009 at 19:57
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    3 weeks is only old if you're a fly. It's still relevant, and rehashing the same points over and over is ... well ... pointless.
    – Dr. Gonzo
    Commented Nov 17, 2009 at 20:00
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    Your suggestion/feedback would be read directly by one of the core people of the sites. Just because you don't get immeditate feedback doesn't mean your idea is ignored or not considered.
    – Troggy
    Commented Nov 17, 2009 at 20:01

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