@Zanna I don't usually flag posts like this, but, since the other answer was converted to a comment, I supposed that the same should be done for this one too.
@Zanna I don't mind a declined flag in general. It's not a big deal. I just think that the same answer should be treated the same way. So either both should be comments or both should be answers.
@BeastOfCaerbannog I converted one to a comment linking to the other one because posting the same answer to multiple questions is discouraged
@BeastOfCaerbannog sorry, it's my fault
see we get an auto-flag for duplicate answers (exact same answer posted on multiple questions)
those are actually the most difficult flags of all in my opinion!
there seems to be a precedent here (on Ask Ubuntu) for taking strong action over it - have seen several users get an immediate suspension for posting duplicate answer which in most cases I didn't agree with
quite often I just dismiss the flags as helpful after investigating the situation, because it's not clear that the questions are duplicates and the answer seems rightly posted to both (or all) of them
but given the way the situation has been handled here previously I do feel a certain degree of pressure to take some kind of action... quite often I comment and suggest that instead of posting multiple answers they could flag as duplicate or if that doesn't seem right, consider posting a comment (if possible) linking to their answer posted elsewhere
on the other hand, people sometimes post their answer to multiple questions without taking account of the detail in the question
like, it appears they've done it based on a keyword or two, and it's very unlikely that what worked for them in their situation will work for all these other situations
@Zanna Indeed it's a tricky one. In the case we are talking about, if one of the answers was expanded, the other could contain a quote of the other one. So that would make the same answer more acceptable (I thinnk).
well, between the extremes of this answer obviously won't work here and this answer might well work here, there's a significant amount of in-between
easiest job is when the questions are clearly duplicates and I can just close them. Sometimes I don't feel I have the technical knowledge to evaluate whether an answer may work or question is a dupe, but still have to do something with the flag. That's when chat is a great help!
@BeastOfCaerbannog the flag is only shown to mods and doesn't send posts to the queue. Sometimes the posts go there anyway but it's for other reasons I don't have a clear view of - some kind of automatic quality check
I could mark the flag as helpful and raise an NAA flag if I want to send the post to the LQP queue, but I have actually never done that because if I'm not at all sure whether a post should be deleted, I wouldn't flag it - rather I'd seek a discussion or just leave it. But in the case of duplicate answers putting a post into the LQP queue is usually undesirable
because the UI does not provide the context
although by saying this I suppose I am endorsing the view that duplicate answers should be treated specially just because they are duplicate answers (where by duplicate answers I mean identical answers posted by the same user to different questions), which is a position I have so far followed but not actually come to a strong decision of my own about
