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This recent question:

How to distinguish C-m from RETURN?

Actually describes the same problem as these two questions:

How to distinguish C-i from TAB?

How to bind C-i as different from TAB?

In both cases users are experiencing the same root problem but coming from a question regarding different symptoms, some have problems with C-i and others have problems with C-m.

My initial thought would be to close the recent question in as a duplicate, but I also want people searching for C-m issues to have as nice a landing page as people searching for C-i issues.

Is this a scenario where having duplicates is better than closing a question as a duplicate? Or should these not actually be considered duplicates?

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    FWIW: I went through and cleaned up the names of those posts to make them a little clearer/more general, so that's why your text no longer quite matches what pops up with the links.
    – Dan Mod
    Commented Feb 12, 2016 at 16:44
  • Great, I think that will be very helpful for people
    – Jordon Biondo
    Commented Feb 12, 2016 at 16:45
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    Non sequitur: any chance you'd consider nominating yourself in the moderator elections?
    – Dan Mod
    Commented Feb 12, 2016 at 16:46
  • Yes I'm considering it
    – Jordon Biondo
    Commented Feb 12, 2016 at 16:48
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    @JordonBiondo FWIW, this community doesn't give much trouble. 😉
    – Malabarba Mod
    Commented Feb 13, 2016 at 10:56

2 Answers 2

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Conceptually, they're duplicates.

However, the people most likely to have these questions (new-ish users) are also unlikely to realize that the C-m and C-i problems are the same thing.

I'd say leave them as-is and not mark them as duplicates. The people they're most likely to help probably won't say to themselves, "Ah, the C-i (C-m) problem: that's the same problem I'm having with C-m (C-i)."

However, we could clean up the titles so that they're clearer.

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    Yeah, the best solution would be to liberally edit the original question, to say that it also happens with C-i and C-m, And then mark the new question as duplicate (politely explaining it to the poster).
    – Malabarba Mod
    Commented Feb 12, 2016 at 19:55
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“Same problem, different entry point” is exactly the point of duplicates. If two questions are about different instances of the same problem, and it's obvious how to adapt solutions for the one into solutions for the other, then the questions are duplicates. In this case, the only difference between How to distinguish C-m from RETURN? and How to distinguish C-i from TAB? and How to bind C-i as different from TAB? is whether they're about C-m/RET or C-i/TAB. So they are duplicates (all three of them).

I also want people searching for C-m issues to have as nice a landing page as people searching for C-i issues.

Duplicates don't hinder that. Questions that are closed as duplicates are still available as search fodder.

In this case, the phenomenon is the same but there are a few specifics that are not obvious, namely the correspondence between RET, TAB, ESC, etc. and the Ctrl keychords. The best solution is to add a sentence to the answers providing this correspondence.

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