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What is the appropriate response when you read a question that you know is a duplicate, but has a bounty on it?

The duplicate question was the second link in the "related questions" right sidebar. But I suppose someone who puts their own reputation up gets to have their own personalized answer?


marked as duplicate by gnat, Martijn Pieters, Mureinik, gunr2171, Ben May 5 at 18:36


I flag as other and explain clearly that it is a duplicate, including the link to the duplicate and indicate that we can't vote to close due to the bounty. –  rene May 5 at 14:30
@gnat It's not a duplicate of that, because the question was valid and would be a perfectly good question, except that someone else already asked it. –  durron597 May 5 at 15:01
@durron597 duplicate questions should be closed - in that sense, situation is no different with other close-worthy cases. The only difference is that dupe-closure is considered respectable, but this doesn't matter here –  gnat May 5 at 15:03
@gnat I think it's debatable whether that matters here. I understand why someone (e.g. you) thinks it doesn't matter here, surely you can understand why someone else (e.g. me) thinks it does (even if you don't agree). Assuming for the moment that you are correct, having a question that explains why it doesn't matter - to future readers - is valuable, and that very difference means the question should be left open. –  durron597 May 5 at 15:06

1 Answer 1

  1. Post a comment proposing the question as a duplicate. This will provide some opportunity for the author to either confirm that the question is a duplicate or explain why the proposed duplicate is in fact different, or doesn't solve his problem.

  2. Flag the question, include the duplicate link, and explain that the post is bountied. A moderator can, if they feel it appropriate, remove the bounty and close the question. Note that the bounty will usually only be removed if it is quite recent.

    If it's been a while, and others may have, or definitely have, spent time working on answers for the bounty then the mod is unlikely to revoke the bounty. Consider flagging the questions for a merger after the bount has ended if that is the case. If the bounty generated some good answers, the older duplicate may well warrant being merged into the newer one.

Servy I think you've answered every question I've ever posted on meta. –  durron597 May 5 at 14:40
@durron597, seems you are a bit off –  gunr2171 May 5 at 18:09

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