Q:

What to do about answers which are highly upvoted but don't technically answer the question?

So I came across this question today. I saw that the second most upvoted answer on the question only referenced the accepted answer and added an extra piece of information, so I decided to edit the reference out as it didn't seem relevant (did not answer the question).
Afterwards, I went back to the question and realised that the answer was completely unrelated to the question, and only expands on it in a manner that is interesting but irrelevant to the question being asked. As the user originally noted in their post, it should have been a comment on the accepted answer.
That said, the post has 33 upvotes, so some people obviously liked it. It's really just a "hack", however, and I don't think it has a place as an answer to that question.
There's another answer of a similar nature on that page, but it has been downvoted a bunch, probably because it's incorrect.
What should be done about posts of this nature? Should they simply stick around, because of historical significance? Should they be edited into an actual answer? Perhaps they should be placed as comments on the actual answer? 
Any suggestions welcome.

A:

While it may not directly answer the OP's question, it is still relevant information within the domain of that question. When a question has already been sufficiently answered, it's not uncommon for other users to tack on additional answers that offer expanded advice or alternatives that do not, by the strictest standards, directly answer the question but which many, many other users find helpful when they are still learning about the technology. Our bar for "not an answer" is actually quite high, because it's extremely difficult to clearly define what "counts" as an answer, so we err on the side of caution. The best way to judge this answer is on whether or not it's useful, and so far the voting history would suggest that it is useful to most people. I say leave it alone.
That said, if you think the advice is wrong or unhelpful, please feel free to downvote it.

