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What is the policy for the following scenario?

I just saw the following answer posted: utf8_unicode_ci vs utf8_general_ci collation differences?

This is a good answer to the question: it details exactly what the differences that the OP wanted to know, clearly and in detail. Ordinarily, I would expect it to score highly.

However, I notice that the question is several months old and already has an accepted answer. Plus, although the accepted answer doesn't give the same detail, it does include a link to a site that does.

So I got a bit curious... and a quick trip to Google revealed that in fact, the user who posted this new answer had already posted the identical answer some time ago on another question: What's the difference between utf8_general_ci and utf8_unicode_ci

It is identical: exact copy and paste. But it's also by the same author, so I guess it doesn't break any plaguarism rules on that score. But it still feels like it's just a slightly cynical grab for points (and possibly also for a Necromancer badge).

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  • 4
    Surely if the same answer applies to both questions then the questions are duplicates....
    – ChrisF Mod
    Commented Mar 31, 2011 at 14:17
  • I asked for the same flagging an answer as "other" once, and got an "It's OK" response from a mod.
    – Dr. belisarius
    Commented Mar 31, 2011 at 15:23

1 Answer 1

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Answering old questions (if with relevant info) is perfectly fine. Same goes for answering questions with already accepted answers; you might even steal the accept.

And, since we've stopped worrying and now love dupes, it is more than possible to find similar questions where you can use the exact same answer.

So, with only the slightest reservation (your wingwang may get slammed in the doorjam by the spam detector algorithm) I'd say go for it.

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  • This contradicts this answer: meta.stackexchange.com/a/211726/286330
    – n1000
    Commented May 2, 2019 at 9:21
  • @n1000 check the dates, consider the content of each, decide for yourself.
    – user1228
    Commented May 2, 2019 at 14:16

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