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fixer1234
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My sense is that we could have handled the subject thread better.

  • The question was closed as opinion based. Perhaps that was the closest close reason for other issues people had with the question. I don't actually see a closure reason at all. The question appears on-topic, factually answerable, in-scope, and not opinion-based. Perhaps people are reading the question in different ways, reading things into the wording, or second-guessing what the OP should have asked instead.
  • The question was not about backup in general, it was about storing a drive. That's not opinion-based. There also aren't endless considerations to the point that it is overly broad. Professionals store drives all the time and know what considerations need to be addressed. An in-scope answer could identify the relevant considerations, briefly discuss them, and describe appropriate ways to deal with them. It could also address additional considerations raised by the OP. This wouldn't require an encyclopedic answer. In fact, much of the discussion has been covered in previous questions, so an answer could include links to other threads for further reading, plus summary discussion to glue it all together.
  • People follow different procedures in practice. Those are based on their own assessment of what risks apply and the potential and cost to recover the data. Those aren't differences of opinion, they are differences in risk assessment for their own needs. Those considerations can be discussed in an answer. Answers that just provide opinion, or state, without any context, what the author does, aren't good answers. That's different from a bad question.
  • The question was perhaps more narrow than what would provide the complete information the OP should know. It asked only about properly storing a specific drive. People offered all kinds of advice about broader considerations of protecting backup information. That's fine to offer as a supplement after addressing the specific issue asked.
  • People were very distracted by the mention of things like geomagnetic storms and Faraday bags. The author wasn't off the deep end, seeking to protect their data from the coming apocalypse. They mentioned that they had seen that in an article and came here looking for perspective, and advice on what is actually important. That's kinda one of the things we do here.
  • The question didn't require a frame challenge, because the OP didn't have a frame, they were simply looking to understand what is important to do about protecting a drive in storage, after click bait articles introduced scenarios they didn't have the background to question.
  • The fact that none of the answers tried to address the actual question suggests that the question wording would have benefited from some tweaking. However, a question shouldn't be closed based on the answers it attracts.
  • JakeGould's answer here is information I agree with in general, but I don't think it applies in this case. My reading of the question was different, and I didn't see it as a bad question, or an XY question (the "XY" was that the OP asked X and people wanted to answer Y; the OP could benefit from broader information than what was asked, though).
fixer1234
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