4

I asked this question -> How can I install java openjdk 8 on High Sierra or newer macOS and it was quite a popular problem with a popular solution to boot.

It's "helped" about 66k people (66k views) which is awesome, but yesterday I got a message that my question was closed because it was similar to another question -> How can I upgrade from Oracle JDK 8 to OpenJDK 8 using Homebrew and be sure it will be used by default?

When I looked at the other question, it appears to be newer, and hasn't had the same impact or number of upvotes.

I see that I can request that it be reopened, so I'm looking for either some help getting it reopened, or some clarification as to why my question appears to have been closed as the duplicate.

2 Answers 2

2

Questions get closed as duplicates if the problem they describe can be resolved by the same answers. This helps to keep the answers in one place to avoid/reduce the risk of duplicated answers. The different questions still have value because different people using different search terms might find one or the other, but the closing ensures that both groups get the best answers.

I'm no expert on the matter but the questions mentioned in your post above seem to have the same answers. You even posted your answer to both, something which usually is a good indicator for a duplicate question.

So based on that I don't see a reason to reopen the question. There is no harm in keeping it closed, it will stay on the site and collect views and upvotes.

0

As to your older question being closed, instead of the newer, see this (long) answer to How should duplicate questions be handled?, in particular:

Which question is the duplicate?

Usually a recent question will be closed as a duplicate of an older question, but this isn't an absolute rule. The general rule is to keep the question with the best collection of answers, and close the other one as a duplicate. If the selected target question is unanswered, the system won't even let you pick it as a duplicate target*.

If one question has great answers but bad wording, and the other has poor or no answers but great wording, edit the badly-worded question and close the other one as a duplicate.

If in doubt, close the more recent question as a duplicate.

Although your question does seem to have more answers, the newer question has one very long answer, so maybe that is why..?

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .