Are you implying if I go look at any python question from 8+ years ago it will be correctly tagged as not just python but also the correct python subversion?
Part of the problem is that at the time of the question the tags might be entirely sufficient but become less so as the the subject changes over time and new tags are available.
If you think that a new version of Python is that different, just ask a new question with the corresponding tag. To avoid its closing you might want to specify that it's not a duplicate of previous question because their answers are for an older version of Python.
Also you could try retag a question with the appropriate version tag, e.g. [python-2.x] or [python-3.5], so other people will know that when using a newer version of Python there might be other (better) answers.
> If you think that a new version of Python is that different, just ask a new question with the corresponding tag.
I use python versions to illustrate the point. That doesn't.meannit encapsulates all the nuances. For example, take a question that asks about the best way to handle HTTP client needs in Python that doesn't include an answer suggesting the requests module[1] because it predates it? Its not strictly tied to a python version, but it does.auffwr for being older, and adding a new, better answer years later may take years more to be ranked high in the answers (if ever). Can.that problem. Be solved with tags? Maybe. Can it. Be solved well by fairly free-form community decided tags? I doubt it.
> Also you could try retag a question with the appropriate version tag, e.g. [python-2.x] or [python-3.5], so other people will know that when using a newer version of Python there might be other (better) answers.
Yes, and people could instead just volunteer their time to accurately rate every question and answer on some absolute scale, say 1 to 1000. Unfortunately systems like that don't scale because it requires too much effort from the individual, and people tire of it.
What sites like Stack Overflow and Reddit spearheaded was to instead give users many tiny, easy, and individually insignificant decisions which when taken in aggregate allowed for the emergent behavior to show its value.
I suspect we'll see a similar solution (at least in part) to this, where some small behavior is incentivized to not just generate and rate the data, but curate it over time. Tagging may be part of that solution, but I think it's fairly inadequate in its current incarnation.
1: I'm assuming requests is still popular. I'm not really a python programmer, but it's more common than my preferred languages so I figured it would convey the point easier.
Part of the problem is that at the time of the question the tags might be entirely sufficient but become less so as the the subject changes over time and new tags are available.