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@AndrolGenhald suggested I ask this here.

My answer here was deleted for the reason that "this is covered by other answers". First of all, its obviously not a duplicate answer, but it also contains information other answers contain. Schroeder made no attempt to discuss anything with me, just deleted it, which prevents me from discussing it further in comments to that answer.

Is it really policy to delete answers that are worded significantly different if a mod thinks any other differing content isn't worth having? I thought the whole point of stack exchange was to let readers (not mods) decide what's useful to them.

My answer isn't spam, its not duplicative, it contains new information. I think it should be undeleted. And honestly, this kind of thoughtless moderator behavior is common enough that something needs to be done about it. What repercussions are there for a moderator that does things like this?

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    Answer being referenced for those that can't see it.
    – AndrolGenhald
    Commented Sep 18, 2018 at 22:06
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    You do realise that moderators are expected, and have explicit powers to take unilateral action where they see fit, right?
    – Rory Alsop Mod
    Commented Sep 19, 2018 at 12:12
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    @BT There is no place in StackExchange to exact revenge on a Mod or to force repercussions. The way to raise an issue is to do exactly what you have done: post on Meta. That's how you may find a resolution to an issue. And while Mods are far from perfect, you can trust that they do nothing "thoughtlessly".
    – schroeder Mod
    Commented Sep 19, 2018 at 18:44
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    @Rory I do realize it, and its caused huge problems for the SE community when mods get too comfortable doing whatever they want without any substantial oversight.
    – B T
    Commented Sep 19, 2018 at 21:35
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    No, that's where you are wrong @BT. There is substantial oversight over every single decision mods make. So instead of unsubstantiated accusations, accept that mods act in the best interests of a site and are held to account if it looks like they haven't for some reason.
    – Rory Alsop Mod
    Commented Sep 19, 2018 at 22:02
  • @RoryAlsop I won't accept that because its clearly not true. How many of the people that voted on or responded to this question aren't mods? In my experience, mods forget what its like to be a regular user, which to me is clearly what has happened here. I guess I just won't contribute to this SE in the future.
    – B T
    Commented Sep 21, 2018 at 22:40
  • Okay, that's fine. It is true. And those of us who can see all the data know this. Whether you accept it or not is entirely up to you.
    – Rory Alsop Mod
    Commented Sep 22, 2018 at 8:28
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    And to answer your question, at least three people who voted on this are not mods :-)
    – Rory Alsop Mod
    Commented Sep 22, 2018 at 8:33

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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The first part of your answer explicitly says that you are repeating other answers, then you:

  1. provide a link saying that the developer knows that the tool has a weakness explained by the other answers (does not add anything to the encryption question nor does it add understanding of the weakness)
  2. provide a named tool as an alternative, which is a little like an ad

So, in the end, it looks like you are posting to rant about the developer of the tool and to promote the other tool you named.

I'm just not seeing the added value.

Please feel free to add to your answer any more value that you see to add.

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    I'll second: reading this, I don't see added value on a 3 year old question. It's subjective / anecdotal in your own lack of use of 7 zip for any purpose. So there's no new information and a negative value in the comment with the subjective bit. Moderators get a little more power to instantly delete, but also general users with enough rep have this power as well. Deletion as a curation of low value answers is appropriate within the behavior of StackExchange sites.
    – Jeff Ferland Mod
    Commented Sep 18, 2018 at 22:35
  • How is a link to a relevant bug ticket raised on the product in question "no new information"? Also what does it matter if the question is 3 years old? The product is still in active use.
    – B T
    Commented Sep 19, 2018 at 1:14
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I'll admit, when I first saw your answer I almost flagged it. It reads a little bit like a rant and a little bit like an ad.

But, the reason I didn't is that part about the creator not considering it an issue. If that's not an exaggeration it indicates that the software will likely never be updated to fix it, and that could be considered enough added value to justify keeping the answer. After reading the link though I'm not totally convinced the developer considers it a non-issue, just that they don't have a viable alternative.

I agree with Schroeder that the rest of the content is duplicate. The other answers mention temporary files, and the rest of it is a product recommendation.

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  • I used caps because its a huge security hole that caused me (and many others) to store my passwords in plain text for literally years without knowing about it. I'll add my hat into the ring and say that most of the content is duplicative. However the link to the ticket is not duplicative and adds useful enough context to make the question at very least not deletion worthy, right? I shouldn't have to be defending my answer in court here should I? Is this really a good use of our time?
    – B T
    Commented Sep 19, 2018 at 1:18
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    @BT The caps were certainly not the sole reason it was deleted.
    – forest
    Commented Sep 19, 2018 at 2:26
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    @BT then it is not worthy as an Answer, but perhaps a useful comment, instead. But it is still tangential to the question. The fact that the weakness was already discussed covers this problem.
    – schroeder Mod
    Commented Sep 19, 2018 at 7:40
  • Is it really the policy on here to delete answers based on whether a single moderator thinks its worthy or not? I thought moderation was about removing spam, preventing harassment or abuse - not overriding the voting system. If my answer would have been better as a comment, why didn't you write that to me rather than simply deleting my answer? Mods should be helpful not antagonistic. Behavior like this wastes all of our time. Just like police should be held to a higher standard, mods should as well.
    – B T
    Commented Sep 19, 2018 at 21:37
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    Is it really the moderator's behavior that wastes all of our time right now..?
    – Tom K.
    Commented Sep 20, 2018 at 13:58
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    @BT Different SE sites have different cultures when it comes to how active the moderators are. Here, there's just a culture of moderators being more proactive in keeping the site clean and removing redundant material. And yes, mods are held to a higher standard. They are not violating our trust, though. Note also that you can undelete the answer yourself if you wish to improve it. However frivolously undeleting an answer may result in the post being locked.
    – forest
    Commented Sep 21, 2018 at 7:07
  • @forest I can't undelete the answer, when trying it says "you can't undelete the answer because it was deleted by a moderator" (paraphrasing)
    – B T
    Commented Sep 21, 2018 at 22:38
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    @BT Oh, I must have misunderstood the mechanic. I'm sure if you edit the post to add new information and ask the moderator to undelete it, they will.
    – forest
    Commented Sep 22, 2018 at 2:19

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