@BeastOfCaerbannog @Terdon Remember the meta discussion from the other day? The one about additional content with edits. How do you suppose this applies? XD (Read my comment and then OP's answer.) Not the same context (sort of the reverse, I guess.. ), but liberties were definitely taken..

we both took liberties. I submitted an edit to reformat as an answer, and to "sign off" that I saw it and didn't mind, as it seemed to me that OP was doing what he/she thought was right in service of the site. I couldn't argue with that. Still I kept thinking about that soapbox I stood on while gloating on about "not taking liberties. " I took some extra liberties of my own with the edit.

@NateT if I may weigh in here, I believe that the OP took the correct action

in my view anyone is free (at liberty, indeed) to post a comment as an answer at any time. The commenter's decision not to post an answer may be taken as a sign of their disinclination to post an answer, and anyone who sees value in a comment such that it had better been posted as an answer will be serving the community by posting it, I think

now one might prefer to encourage the commenter to post an answer, and only if they do not, post the comment as an answer attributing the comment author*... one might even make the answer a community wiki answer. These are things that I and other folks do. But they are not compulsory

your edit summary suggested to me that you felt that the existing answer was somehow a better answer than what you wanted to contribute, and that's why you didn't post it as an answer

let me encourage you to post an answer even if you feel that existing answers are better, more traditional, more comprehensive, etc, if you feel like posting an answer (of course, one should only post answers if one wants to, and that is part of why I encourage people to post useful comments by others as answers). Your contribution was obviously valued by the OP - so much so that they felt it should be an answer

certainly it can be frustrating to miss out on reputation in situations like this

one can avoid such frustration by not posting answers in the comment section :)

*one should always give attribution to the author

Sorry to all for the long msg ahead. I was (tried to be) purposfully descriptive because I wanted to avoid any misunderstandings.I erred on the side of laziness before and do not want to repeat the mistake. XD Also, I purposefully took out the \@ directives so as not to wake anyone who has any notifications set. Also, sorry for the runons. Without the paragraph breaks. The overview is harder for me to visualize. Anyway, here goes..

I think I may have worded my commentunclearly. I just meant to make light of myself (Ill explain below), and point out the irony in another situation. I agree that OP made the correct choice. I just edited in order to make it more of an answer. I added detail and styling that I was unable to add in the comment. The reason for my comment here was because I posted an answer to a meta Q a few days ago (I'll get a link as soon as I post this.)

...at the same time as beast & Terdon were activeon the same post. My answer was referring to "taking liberties" when editing other people's questions.

My point was that I, personally, try not to add anything that they did not intend content wise because, although my name will disappear for the average reader as soon as someone else edits, but theirs is there permanently. The comment here was just meant to point out the irony in the fact that within a week, i found myself in a situation where I was editing another's question, but at the same time my own statements.

As far as the asker, I couldn't agree with you more. I even tried to say it in edit comment, but ran out of room. I purposely tried to play the situation out in a way where they did not feel like I was trying to correct anything, because someone who does something like that in service of the site on their first visit would be, imo, an excellent addition to our (or any) community. I was hoping to handle it in a way that would foster that possibility, or at the very least wouldn't diminish it.

I posted the original comment just to help the OP. I probably would have moved it eventually, but I was waiting because I knew That Sancho.S's answer was helpful, and I was expecting it to be accepted. That is what I meant when I said that I didn't want to answer. I am not worried about the points myself.Not enough to be upset about a comment being reposted as an answer. The whole reason I added as a comment is so I wouldn't get the rep. I felt that Sancho deserved it more.

It honestly couldn't have worked out more perfectly. Sancho.S got the accepted answer, the comment I wrote was added as an answer, and the op was helped and genuinely thankful. (btw sorry about the second comment to Q aka the "your welcome" comment. I couldn't halp myself. Comments like the one that OP directed at me are worth more than any amount of rep to me, and I couldn't be more sincere in that regard.)

Sorry if I didn't add enough detail before. I was only thinking about the two at whom I was pointing the comment. I didn't think about what others might think. I also thought about linking the meta answer, but again I was thinking in to narrow of a scope. I hope this clears it up. Reading My first comment back, I can see how it could be taken as an angry post, but i was chuckling under my breath the whole time I was writing it..

I finally get up the courage to contribute an answer on meta, and then eat my words within the week. That is why I posted. No anger or malice intended. Sorry again for the long post.

sorry for any misunderstanding

I am happy you are happy with the situation w/r/t/ the question and its answers

mm, wasn't there a way to hide posts appearing in your top network posts?

Maybe I've gone blind and not just nearsighted.

@NateT The ideal for me in this case would be that the OP would add a comment saying that their problem was solved by your suggestion and you would then convert it to a complete answer. However, since this didn't happen and the OP decided to add it as an answer themselves, without adding anything more than your comment, I would probably do the same as you, adding more details as if it was my answer.

This is indeed a bit like the reverse of the post you referred to, as it essentially is your answer. The loss of rep can hurt a bit, but other than allowing you to have access to more tools that you can use to help the community, rep doesn't really has so much value (well rep may signify some other things too, but it's not useful to mention them in this context).

I don't think I have anything more to add, as both you and Zanna have got me covered.

@BeastOfCaerbannog The community the site as a resource and the occasional thanks are enough for me, I watch my rep, but not because I am invested. Just sort of a time passer, a goal. Honestly, Ive been more concerned with badges lately, Again, just sort of a destination when it's really about the drive, I guess. @Seth I could have added a few more sorrys, but it was already a lot of typing.. : )

Not much room left, is there?

To last msg^

The only reason I get rep Is because I answer the bountied Qs, and that is just because it is like a filter for the most interesting questions. My mentality is that if an experienced user is willing to sacrifice their rep for an answer, then it is more likely to be an interesting issue.

temporal message flow got a bit twisted. My bad

@BeastOfCaerbannog I just now saw that the OP had actually said that they were helped by your comment, and they added it as answer a few hours later. They could have waited a bit longer for you to answer, but OK.

I also edited the question and at the end I saw it's about Zorin, thus off-topic. :/

Hence my attempt to avoid stepping on the answerers toes. We answer the same questions quite a bit, and I feel we've developed a bit of a repore, at least in my mind. I try to support him wherever I can. Yea, that is another reason, I edited my answer. To make it apply to Ubuntu, as it is more likely to show up in off-site searches, possibly giving a first impression. It wasn't a precise calculation really, I am just more picky about my answers than comments.

@BeastOfCaerbannog I reserve comments for trying to help a user, and questions I am usually aiming at possibly countless more with the same or a similar issue in the future. Not saying they deserve it, but it doesn't hurt to hold high standards. Btw, where does your username come from? The profile pic reminds me of a monty python movie we used to watch when I was younger. I can't remember the lines, names, etc., but Ill never forget the deadly rabbit (or was it a hare?)

FYI the broad consensus on the network is that converting someone else's comment to an answer is absolutely fine. Answers should not be posted as comments, that is bad for everyone: they cannot be voted on, so they circumvent the normal quality control of the site and they don't mark the question as answered.

So someone who takes a comment and makes it an answer is helping the site.

If they didn't want their comment to be made into an answer, then they should have posted an answer in the first place.

@NateT It's indeed from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail"!

I love it. That brought back memories. I used to be crazy about the movie "Stand By Me" by Stephen King. My brother and I watched it so much that the VHS tape was eventually too thin to play anymore. I completely forgot about that until now. Anyway, that is me out. I've got a busy weekend and need to get some sleep. Good day or good night all.

Bye!

@terdon Well, the ayes won IIRC. chat.stackexchange.com/transcript/201?m=58973377#58973377

@Zanna ok..

@JourneymanGeek oh..

@Feeds yay!

@BeastOfCaerbannog I didn't expect that my post would have been helpful in the future.. haha..

@jokerdino I guess we can modify

Stalking Philippe a bit

We don't need answers posted to Philippe's questions be posted here. Just sharing questions asked by Philippe will suffice IMO.

@NateT eh? My comment was about my own profile, I haven't even read any of the other conversations that happened before it