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This answer was deleted by a moderator, probably because of link rot. Copy paste for those who can't see it:

Yes, see os::javaTimeMillis in /src/os/solaris/vm/os_solaris.cpp to see the Solaris implementation for instance. There are a few layers of wrappers to get there though, see JVM_CurrentTimeMillis in /src/share/vm/prims/jvm.cpp

Although it is true that the links were an important part of the answer (they point to the online JDK source browser), it also contained other useful information, and anyone who saw the rotten URL would be able to find the updated link themselves.

The result is that users with <10k reputation lose useful information.

Should we delete those answers or what else should be done?

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    I was under the impression that answers with bad links should be edited to get the new link, if it can be found. That's part of why link-only answers are bad... you should include information necessary to find an updated link.
    – Catija
    Commented Jun 4, 2015 at 7:07
  • @Catija they should be edited, but I argue that not deleted. The answer in question was not link only, and did include enough info to find the new link. Commented Jun 4, 2015 at 7:08
  • Where did I say that it should be deleted?
    – Catija
    Commented Jun 4, 2015 at 7:09
  • @PatrickHofman I think this applies to all sites, but if people disagree, can you move the question? Commented Jun 4, 2015 at 7:09
  • Sorry, I can't see the answer you're linking to. Can you include the text of the answer in your question? Or tell us about what was in the answer? Was it a link-only answer? Did it contain other substantive content? If you found an updated link, did you try editing it to correct the link, and then flagging for moderators to undelete it?
    – D.W.
    Commented Jun 4, 2015 at 9:53
  • @D.W. Added text. As mentioned, it was not link only and contained useful info. I did update and flag, likely will soon be undeleted. Commented Jun 4, 2015 at 9:58

2 Answers 2

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You have a few options when it comes to link-rotten posts:

  1. Update the answer with the appropriate new link locations if you can find them;
  2. Leave a comment to OP to fix the links;
  3. Edit out the links if they are really gone and can't be found any more and the links are just complimentary to the answer;
  4. If the links are the only relevant part of the post and they are gone: flag as not-an-answer or with a custom reason explaining the links got rotten.

It isn't necessarily bad to go to step 4 immediately, but if you can take some time to go through the other steps, that would help the community most.

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I guess, fixing rotten links in old answers should be naturally fixed/removed by community, as all stackexchange does. Maybe there should be additional bounty for answer/question edits with link fixes.

Removing such answers is evil, IM, because even broken links can be useful. I.e., some old/removed/migrated pages can be reached via wayback machine @ archive.org.

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