0

I was looking at Simple proof that GUID is not unique recently. It's funny as hell, and I especially liked the person's response of selling cheap China GUIDs. But no one seemed to answer the fellow's question.

I believe his test program can prove a GUID is not unique if he combines it with a VM rollback attack. The rollback need not occur by an adversary - it could be an operator who inadvertently rolls back to a previous state.

For the "me too" voters below: please pay attention to the details. I did not ask how to re-open a question. My only concern is to have a correct answer added to a closed question. I could not care less if the question is re-opened (or not). Please control your imagination.

How does one have an answer added to a closed question?

9
  • 1
    You can either vote to re-open (and hope enough votes roll in), or more plausibly ask a similar question and provide the answer all in one.
    – Eric J.
    Nov 27, 2012 at 20:12
  • 3
    The question was closed for a reason; either figure out what that reason was, fix it, and then find 5 3k+ users (or 1 mod) to vote to reopen, or if you can't fix it then it's desirable for it to stay closed so you should just leave it alone.
    – Servy
    Nov 27, 2012 at 21:43
  • 2
    @Servy Historical lock. Moderator intervention required, but rather unlikely. Nov 27, 2012 at 21:46
  • @DanielFischer That pretty thoroughly indicates that it's going to fall into the "can't fix" category, given the attention it's gotten. If it could be fixed it would have been by now.
    – Servy
    Nov 27, 2012 at 21:59
  • @Servy Yes. One thing I'd really like to know is whether the OP was serious or having fun from the start. Nov 27, 2012 at 22:05
  • You can still vote, comment, earn rep and edit closed questions. If you could also leave answers to them then what is the point of closing questions at all?
    – JonW
    Nov 27, 2012 at 23:01
  • @ЯegDwight, it's not really a duplicate as the question has a historical lock. Nov 27, 2012 at 23:03
  • @Ben - sorry to be a stickler. I don't really care if the question is reopened. I was concerned about having at least one correct answer added. If you read the original question, it was never answered.
    – user173448
    Nov 27, 2012 at 23:47
  • @noloader - This question is now opened.
    – Himanshu
    Nov 28, 2012 at 5:04

1 Answer 1

5

The short of it is... you can't. Basically by design. The whole point of closing a question is to signal that it's not appropriate on the site and to prevent answers until the question is improved.

This varies somewhat with the close reason. For example, getting a question closed as a duplicate isn't an inherently bad thing, and some questions (such as things that are entirely off-topic) cannot be improved.

In many cases, though, a question can be reworded or clarified, and then reopened. Reopening a question is the only way to add another answer to it.

Aside from permanently(ish) reopening the question, here are your options:

If you have an answer that isn't already present and you think the existing answers are seriously wrong (that is, wrong about something important, not a personal preference), flag for moderator attention and ask them to unlock/reopen the question long enough for you to post the answer. Explain why you're asking them to do so.

Moderators might disagree, and if they do, you should come back here to meta and make your case specifically for reopening that question. From experience, reasons and logic will work better than any kind of emotional appeals.

If the meta appeal fails to produce results, the best you can do is shake your head and then let it be.

If your corrections are minor, you can also just edit (or suggest an edit) on an existing answer on the closed question. (Your example question is locked, so this won't work. But in general... it's an option.)

You must log in to answer this question.

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