15:12
Or, more precisely, when they are, I don't think it's because they're suggestions.
The best form for uncertain answers would be one that pins down the uncertainty, such as "Sometimes this problem is caused by [cause]. When it is, I have found that it can usually be solved by [solution]. I am not sure exactly when this works, because [reason]." (I don't mean specifically that wording, just that it is good for answers to include that kind of information when they are uncertain in nature and the information is available.)
But even answers that are initially written with the intention of addressing the situation described in a question but don't help the OP can be good answers. This is one of the reasons allowing and keeping multiple answers to the same question is a strength of the Stack Exchange system.
On the other hand, being a suggestion doesn't make something an answer when it wouldn't be one anyway, e.g., if there's no actual answer present in the post because it's just a link with no explanation, or when it's just a general platitude or commentary about an issue that is related to the post.
That's my take on it, anyway.
But I guess it might depend on what one considers to be a suggestion. Of course, I was the one who brought that vague term into this conversation. :)
What I meant by it was what terdon was referring to
when he wrote:
> Words like "try" and "might" are absolutely no indication that something is not an answer.
I'm not claiming that even this is decisive, though, at least not without the surrounding context. That post (and Zanna's) aren't statements of policy except to the extent that meta votes on them represent a community consensus. Like, I'm not suggesting that the particular text I quoted is true because terdon said it; I do believe it is true, but that's not the reason.
On Ask Ubuntu, we tend to consider posts that effectively answer a different question than the one that was asked to be NAA. The line between those answers and answers that are just wrong but attempt to answer the question that was asked is sometimes murky. Sometimes posts phrased as suggestions are misunderstanding the question and don't apply to a correct reading of the question. I suspect this happens more often with posts phrased in uncertain terms than it does with others.
So I don't want to say "suggestions aren't NAA" because in practice they often are NAA.
@EliahKagan *mainly because they may help other users who have a problem that can reasonably be described as the same, or similar, to the problem in the question, and who find the question and its answers by searching.
@Kulfy But anyway, "Did you try X" is phrased as a question, so in cases where it really is offering a specific course of action intended to solve the problem described in the question, it should usually be edited to reword it, so that it is clear that it is really answer.
My concern with
that post is that perhaps it
wasn't really intended as a solution and I misunderstood it. This is also why I didn't provide my own feedback to Natty yet; I am actually concerned I may be mistaken in this particular case.
I've
commented on the post. Maybe the author will edit the answer. And I won't give feedback to Natty on it (at least not for a while--maybe matters will become clearer).
