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This is more of a FEEDBACK to bring a new feature.

Let's say I paste a perma-link of an accepted answer from one question to a different question and I did that today - How to check file/directory permission with Zend.

But one of the user commented me saying "We are not supposed to copy content from linked duplicates as answers." which I didn't, I know the question is a duplicate, and I mentioned that on the answer with the link to the accepted answer on duplicate question. All I did was copied the accepted answer on the duplicate question and pasted it on my answer with label: "Quick Info" kind of quick glance to the answer from the link.

The comment from another user triggered me to post a feedback to SO asking to give a feature where one post a perma-link of any question/answer should show the glimpse of it's answer.

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1 Answer 1

up vote 6 down vote accepted

If a question is a duplicate, don't answer it! Provide a link to the other question in a comment, and flag the question as a duplicate.

Answer data should not be duplicated out of it's original context. This way when they link to the answered question not only will they have the accepted answer, but they will be able to see ongoing feedback and alternative solutions that might be relevant and even important.

On the other hand if you need to adapt a solution to a different problem, it is of course ok to reference somebody elses answer and technique, but you should provide some added value. If the other answer answers this question, the question is a duplicate. If it doesn't and in needs to be modified to be applicable, you are welcome to make those modifications and provide a useful answer.

The only case where you would copy some data and provide a link is when that data is on a different site on the web. Then you would summarize the important bits, copying if appropriate, and provide a link to the source.

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