A couple of days ago, a story ID request was closed as a duplicate of another one.
Both have an answer which is correct, according to the querant.
But I saw that the one that was closed as a duplicate had an accepted answer, while the other one did not — just a confirmation in a comment.
Shouldn't we prefer to make the one without an accepted answer a duplicate of the one with an accepted answer?
This question is both about the specific questions and the general principle.
Comments are fine to be used for closing as a duplicate, all that matters is that we have confirmation. This is because not all users know that you can accept an answer, especially new users (and we get a lot of story id questions from them).
The short answer to this is whichever question has the best Q/A.
A well written, focused question with a lot of detail.
A well written answer:
Has less noise i.e. fewer comments asking for clarification and fewer incorrect answers
Obviously not all those points need to be met but they give a general guideline of what to look for, for the better Q/A. For more information see: How to ask a good story-ID question? and How to write a good story-ID answer?
My take on this is that an accepted answer has more permanence than a comment. Of course, the querant who accepted the answer can de-accept it, but anyone can flag a comment for deletion.
While a comment confirming a correct answer is enough to allow for closure as a duplicate, I think when given the choice between two question of which only one has an actual accepted answer while does not, we should close as a duplicate the one that does not have an accepted answer, in favour of the question that does have one.
