When we went through all of the questions a few months ago to close the ones that aren't a good fit, we started with somewhat older questions, with low views or low activity.
This one has been on my radar for some time now, and I was sort of waiting for the right time to bring this one up. Now is just as good as any time. :)
This question is literally our top question. It has more views and votes than anything else. While that doesn't make it a great question, it's one that, if deleted, might shake the foundations of our community just a little too much.
With that said, locking it appears to have taken it out of the "faq" (most linked) tab and the "votes" (highest voted) tab, so our main page does look a LOT better now.
The nice thing about locking is that it prevents it from continuing to appear in the "active" tab or continue to generate more links, and the historical notice on it makes it clear that it's not evidence that similar questions can be asked here.
I'm definitely open to arguments either way on whether locking is sufficient or if it should be deleted outright. If people speak up and want it gone, I'm more than happy to remove it, but for now, I think you solved the problem and put out the fire for the moment by having it locked. Great suggestion!