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Seeeing that the question
Macbook air 2011-mid keyboard keys Q W E R T Y U I O working sporadically [duplicate]
(2 years, 2 months ago [asked Dec 17 '15 at 14:36])
was marked as duplicate and commented with the following words:

marked as duplicate by Allan, Mark, fsb, IconDaemon, Glorfindel♦ 4 hours ago

This question has been asked before and already has an answer. If those answers do not fully address your question, please ask a new question.

There is a certain error emerging if the duplicate is:
Keyboard key stuck or not being recognized; how to fix
(asked 5 months ago [asked Sep 18 '17 at 15:34])

As far as I understand the rules here the second question should have been marked as a duplicate, the answer to the second question posted under the first question?

Answering this with the merits of the second question/answer combination's merits is irrelevant.

Either the policy was ignored or the explanation text needs redaction. If these kinds of decisions are to be repeated, then in the future the dupe-closure text has to include "was now better asked", "has now a better answer"?

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  • Thanks for raising discussion +1 for that. I’m not aware of “rules” for closing on Ask Different. Can you link to those with a comment or edit? My goal as moderator is to surface the best content and concentrate for great answers of clear questions. – bmike♦ Feb 28 '18 at 17:38
  • "Rule" is an inference from How to Ask and the actual text given as closure reason as well as observation of current practice, also read in comments. Research before you ask, also on this site. If the 2nd A is so much better, although the OP for the 1st would not be able to find it until years later. (IMO sometimes Qs got duped despite the older original being not great or even unanswered) Really 2 problems with the text in the comment box: it should be an older post if it says "before" and have an answer if the text says, "has an answer". AFAIK mods can redact such snippets, should be rare. – LаngLаngС Feb 28 '18 at 17:51
  • Cool. Close as dupe seems correct per the Ask and comments above to me. Thanks for the extra detail. – bmike♦ Feb 28 '18 at 19:07
  • To make sure we're on the same page: no judgment on either Q/A, ask page or the actual decision on this issue presented here. Just that 1. my inference on the rules might be misguided and more importantly, therefore: 2. the explanatory text is in both cases counterfactual, or "wrong". – LаngLаngС Feb 28 '18 at 22:21
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Is there some harm with the reverse time ordering for this specific close?

If so, please let us know and we can look at it. When both questions have been asked more than a year before now, I’m less likely to close in the direction linking to the oldest question and more in favor of closing in the best direction - favoring the question with the best phrasing, best answer or answer diversity and tie going to the shortest, clearest phrasing of the question at hand.

In this case, we’re closing towards a canonical question so that is even more correct in my eyes regardless of typical or general case.

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