It really does depend, as you observed. Questions that get quick clear answers might stop receiving responses in a matter of minutes, and will receive the bulk of their votes within the first 12 hours. Threads that generate a lot of discussion might keep getting responses for 24 to 48 hours. Well-made trolls get the majority of their responses for about 72 hours. And in all cases, someone may end up posting a followup years later.

To answer the subject-line of your post, "How long does a node live?", the answer is as long as the Monastery stands. Nodes are almost never wiped from existance, even if they're reaped.

In fact, even nodes that are nuked leave entries in the database, where they can be refered to only by gods. There are some very early nodes, I think, that are completely lost, due to database corruption, but I certianly hope that won't happen again.

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Warning: Unless otherwise stated, code is untested. Do not use without understanding. Code is posted in the hopes it is useful, but without warranty. All copyrights are relinquished into the public domain unless otherwise stated. I am not an angel. I am capable of error, and err on a fairly regular basis. If I made a mistake, please let me know (such as by replying to this node).

Many threads are not just questions and answers, they are also conversations. And this forum permits us to join into a conversation, though sometimes the silences may be years-long.
Why is 'our' good?

As a long time Perl mailing list subscriber, I'd say the "pace" of Perl Monks is definitely quicker than most mailing lists. That is, threads get responded to quicker, and they also seem to die quicker. It's rare when I respond on a mailing list to find someone has beaten me to the punch by a few minutes, yet that seems to happen all the time here. ;-) And it's not only me who's noticed this; I remember once kwilliams being so surprised about how quickly thread Module::Build and the PPM seemed to die (compared to a typical M::B mailing list thread) that he asked the M::B list what was going on here.

Of course, there are many exceptions to this and the other side of the coin is that long "hibernating" Perl monks nodes spring back to life far more frequently than do mailing list threads. I've often seen feedback on Perl Monks nodes that are several years old yet I can't recall ever seeing that happen to a mailing list thread.

It's rare when I respond on a mailing list to find someone has beaten me to the punch by a few minutes, yet that seems to happen all the time here. ;-)

Let me add my Amen to that (since I'm a monk, and, like, monks are supposed to pray and stuff). I would probably post more replies on Perlmonks here, but it seems like almost every time I have something relevant to someone(s) has(ve) already covered the territory.

P.S. Although it may look like it to some, this is most definitely not a complaint, or if it is it's on the level of, "Dang, there're no commercials on TCM, now I can't get up in the middle of a show and get more junk food to eat."

--DrWhy

"If God had meant for us to think for ourselves he would have given us brains. Oh, wait..."

And it's kinda cool that I can respond to a node that is two years old and get a response almost immediately. That's what's nice about having "Notes" on Newest Nodes—you can see all replies. So, as others have pointed out, threads live on forever.

I'd also guess that the discussion of most threads is alive for about 24 hours, mostly because that's the default interval in Newest Nodes. Surely it depends. For example this thread has got a reply four years after its start. Polls are alive for a few weeks.

And this evolution is a Good Thing.