Should I ask for clarification on an old question/answer?

Question

Obviously answers on old questions are still desirable, and presumably this would apply to informative comments as well. But what about clarification questions?

On the one hand, additional information may allow for an improved answer. On the other hand, the poster has probably long since stopped caring about the question, or even forgotten.

For questions, my gut says ask if there's no accepted answer, don't if there is. Personally, I'd welcome any comments/questions, but I've got only 1 question and 5 answers to be commented on. I can see how seasoned users might have a different perspective.

Answer 1

Go ahead, you never know. Some people are not clueful enough to select answers, some people post a question and either never return or are clueless enough that they can't clarify their question starting 10 seconds after it's posted. We have a "questions are never old" policy in general on SE, hence the closing new ones as duplicates. So go ahead - even if the OP doesn't respond, other high rep users with edit privs might.