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Two days ago I asked the following question: Does a lisse $\ell$-adic sheaf give rise to an affine group scheme?

Even though I had been thinking about the question for half a week, I was half an hour too quick with asking the question. Within moments after asking the question, I realised my question was nonsense.

Disappointed, and not sure what to do, I changed the question into a more general and vague question. I think that the question as it currently stands is not very precise, and does not fit MO. Therefore I would like to delete it.

On the other hand, the question does have two answers (with upvotes). What happens to the rep these users earned from their answer?

Is it bad form/conduct (not sure what the right English word is here) to delete the question now?

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    $\begingroup$ If it has positively scored answers, you simply cannot delete it (this is a feature of the platform). $\endgroup$
    – Tobias Kildetoft
    Jul 2, 2014 at 12:10
  • $\begingroup$ @TobiasKildetoft — That's good to know. I guess that more or less answers this question… $\endgroup$
    – jmc
    Jul 2, 2014 at 12:26
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    $\begingroup$ Still you can edit your question to mark it as withdrawn, and describe why it doesn't make sense. -- This would certainly be helpful for future readers. $\endgroup$
    – Stefan Kohl Mod
    Jul 2, 2014 at 12:41
  • $\begingroup$ Actual deletion either requires the question to be closed (needs 5 votes) and then a number of delete votes depending on how many answers with what vote scores the question has, or moderator intervention. $\endgroup$
    – Stefan Kohl Mod
    Jul 2, 2014 at 12:43
  • $\begingroup$ @StefanKohl — Thanks! I already made an edit explaining why the first question does not make sense. My second attempt is vague, but as far as I see it is not really nonsense. If deleting the question is too much of a hassle, I will just leave it like this. Maybe some expert has something knowledgeable to say about my vague 2nd question… $\endgroup$
    – jmc
    Jul 2, 2014 at 12:56
  • $\begingroup$ I'd say whether a question should be kept or deleted depends on whether it has still positive value for readers or not. If you think the latter is the case here, deletion shouldn't be too much of a hassle. $\endgroup$
    – Stefan Kohl Mod
    Jul 2, 2014 at 14:24
  • $\begingroup$ In my eyes the positive value is very very small. It might prevent future readers from making the same mistake, that's it. However, I think DonuArapura and JBorger also deserve a say in this, as they have upvoted answers to this question. $\endgroup$
    – jmc
    Jul 2, 2014 at 14:31
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    $\begingroup$ If it really bothers you and you want to delete it by going through some complicated process, then I won't be offended. But I honestly don't find the question so bad. Clearly there ought be some reasonable answer, although I suspect it would require some new ideas. $\endgroup$
    – Donu Arapura
    Jul 3, 2014 at 5:01
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    $\begingroup$ @DonuArapura — Ok, I agree. I'll leave the question as is; but currently it's more or less a punch in the air (if that is an English expression). $\endgroup$
    – jmc
    Jul 3, 2014 at 5:36

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