11
votes
Accepted
Is suggesting built-in software acceptable?
In the past, this was done. And I don't see anything wrong with that – after all it's software "available", and in cases like that the user could even skip the download+install part.
But in your ...
IzzyMod
- 18.7k
9
votes
Accepted
Random inappropriate necro-deletion of decent, helpful, upvoted answer
What you don't see is the six other poor quality and sometimes actually spammy answers there. Granted its a video conversion question, and they attract spammers. You're not one. Awesome.
We've ...
- 8,237
8
votes
Is source code an acceptable answer?
We've had a somewhat similar question in the past: Are answers which provide a complete script acceptable?
As I write, the top two answers are:
[+5] I would say that we probably shouldn't be giving ...
8
votes
Accepted
Good question was never answered
It's one of mine. I've not found an answer that's worked for me the way I expected it to.
It's the nature of the beast, really. One of the reasons software recommendations are not really accepted on ...
- 8,237
7
votes
Do we consider "beta invites by email" valid answers?
Yes,
it is completely fine, so long as the other requirements for a quality answer are met.
However, just because it should be allowed, do not mean it is going to be a good answer. Answering with it ...
- 2,940
7
votes
Should we have higher standards for what consitutes appropriate disclosure than the rest of the network?
I basically agree – though I wouldn't close/delete an answer based on that. Stating "my"/"our" etc. the poster already gives a certain disclosure (if OTOH the poster tries to hide the fact, posing as "...
IzzyMod
- 18.7k
6
votes
Accepted
Are self-written applications welcomed here?
Yes, I would say it is OK, as long as you clearly say that you are the author.
If the goal is really to increase your skills and thus you make the result open source, then it is actually even more ...
- 19.2k
5
votes
Random inappropriate necro-deletion of decent, helpful, upvoted answer
While I see your point of "no warning before" – I also see the point of the mod deleting the post. I'm not a mod; if I had "pushed that button" you'd have gotten a warning in advance (and a chance to ...
IzzyMod
- 18.7k
5
votes
Is source code an acceptable answer?
In my answer, I referred to iText, which is a PDF library. See also Free or nearly free PDF library for Java
Due to the very specific requirements of the OP, I don't think that there's a solution that ...
- 282
5
votes
Accepted
Are there any guidelines for answering with your own software?
This site doesn't have a specific policy about answering a question with your own software.¹ Follow the general Stack Exchange policy and guidelines on self-promotion (whose current wording evolved ...
5
votes
Accepted
Leaving an invalid answer "just in case it helps someone"
Please delete the answer.
It is sad that the effort spent into writing this answer is wasted, but it would be even more sad to let this answer hide more on-topic answers.
If losing this answer would ...
- 19.2k
4
votes
How to handle "it's impossible" answers?
I think that we should we allow "It's impossible" answers for the following reasons:
Such answers are useful to inform the OP and other readers of the difficulty or impossibility to provide ...
- 37.6k
4
votes
Random inappropriate necro-deletion of decent, helpful, upvoted answer
Everyone else has already covered the pertinent points here, so I'm going to try to give a little context for this (not in strict chronological order, though):
Way back in the beginning of the site, ...
- 4,256
4
votes
Random inappropriate necro-deletion of decent, helpful, upvoted answer
This deletion was entirely appropriate. Before accusing others of being “rogue”, please take a minute to inform yourself about our site.
The fact that the answer had been around for a while changes ...
3
votes
How to handle one line answers vs comments
The second category ("Try software XYZ, it will work well.") lacks the info whether it meets the requirements at all (if I ask for a boat and get told a car "works well", it doesn't help me at all) – ...
IzzyMod
- 18.7k
3
votes
Asking for software, get libraries in answers
TLDR: no
Why not (theory)
Software that is shipped is
tested
documented
If you need to write the program yourself, there are typically lots of caveats, which make the solution extraordinarily ...
- 9,927
2
votes
Good question was never answered
Like on other less popular sites of StackExchange, it will always be full of great question without attention. I think that is the problem, the main one.
person who developed it had some clashes of ...
- 123
2
votes
Can I post a recommendation as an answer that was already stated in a comment?
I personally don't have an issue with this. Comments aren't supposed to be answers, answers should be answers. If someone posts an answer as a comment, you are fully within your rights to 'steal' it ...
- 4,256
2
votes
How to handle "it's impossible" answers?
Such answers should be allowed and if there is an explanation why it's impossible such answer can be really useful.
So, some example for a question with an "it's not possible" answer could ...
- 448
2
votes
How to handle "it's impossible" answers?
I don't want such answers. They don't help me. And thus I downvote, because that's exactly what the downvote means: "it is not useful".
When I ask a question, I have a problem and I want to ...
- 9,927
2
votes
Answers with broken links to software that is no longer available
This is one of the reasons that we discourage product recommendations on super user.
In many cases the author is gone so pinging the author might not be a good solution on its own.
To me
If its a ...
- 8,237
1
vote
Can I post a recommendation as an answer that was already stated in a comment?
As a rule of thumb (which I follow), I'd recommend the following approach:
@ping the author of the comment to expand it into an answer
go ahead if …
nothing happens in a reasonable time (I'd count ~...
IzzyMod
- 18.7k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible