Interpret BF (question on repost)

Question

Sandbox : link

Interpret BrainF**K :

This is usually a very common challenge on a lot of sites and on PPCG we also have this Interpret BF. I wanted to know if we could make a repost of that question or if we could relax the rules a bit.

The rule that I wanted relaxed / reason for repost it :

The program is read from a file.

The challenge is rather old, as in 7 years old.

Post Date : Jan 28, 11

So I don't think changing a 7 year old challenge is the wisest thing to do. (of course I can be wrong).

I have already asked this question in nineteenth-byte and there users :

• @user202729
• @Mr.Xcoder
• @ASCII-only

were kind enough to answer this. All in all they asked me to post this as a question on meta (which I believe I am doing)

Linked :

Possible links in favor

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So what I would like to know is whether we can make a repost of the challenge with the updated rules or whether the current challenge is okay ?

Answer 1

Put it in the Sandbox

While this is a very generic response that applies to just about every situation where somebody asks "should I post X question", it remains valid here and I think it's the best option. Include in the Sandbox post a note acknowledging that a previous challenge exists which is similar enough to be a duplicate, but that you think it has resolvable quality issues that are best resolved with a new challenge. That will get the best feedback on what form the new question should take (I think there are other improvements possible than just removing the "read from file" requirement), and also gather additional opinions on whether it would be better to just overhaul the existing question.

Creating new questions to "replace" older questions that are interesting but no longer "quality" has precedent so I think there's a good chance the Sandbox reaction will be positive.

Answer 2

There is already a question here with a few answers but your question is a bit of an extension on it so I won't vote it as duplicate. In general, the top and accepted answer says that reposting a challenge that's exactly identical is unnecessary, but if you kind of extend/modify it a bit, it could work out of the other challenge is dead already.

In general, it should be fine to repost old challenges with some sort of a change in the core of the challenge or its competitive aspect (scoring), but an I/O change is probably good enough as well for really old challenges. If a repost as nothing to add to the already existing challenge, then it probably isn't justified.