It depends probably more on the *answers* than the *question*. Questions should only be broadened in scope if the answers that are given, or can be given, are equally applicable. --- This requires that the user *still* gets the same, good answers he'd have gotten if the question were unchanged. That's why users add their particular situation (e.g. OS used, or specific requirements) after all: to get answers tailored for their needs instead of generally good but not applicable answers. Sometimes, parts of these stated **requirements are irrelevant to the question**, and the user is unaware of that fact. It probably doesn't matter what OS you use when discussing the general advantages of SSDs. If you're knowledgable about that topic (and whether OS makes any difference), and you agree, just remove OS references, as they don't matter. Users looking for cross-platform tools also make this mistake: Tools are very often available for Windows, Linux *and* Mac OS X, so questions looking for a tool that works on two of these OSes are often just as applicable on other, similar systems. It's also a good idea sometimes to broaden the scope to **prevent questions from being off topic or too localized** (the former being easier to determine, and fix, than the latter). If someone asks about *web-based Markdown editors*, you can either make it *desktop Markdown editors* or wait for it to be closed. --- Other times, specific information in a question is *essential* to get good answers. [An obviously completely non-applicable answer](http://superuser.com/q/281374/22317) got eight up votes (now at +8/-3) before an answer that actually addressed the user's situation was posted. Now, imagine this question wouldn't have been tagged [tag:osx], but e.g. [tag:unix]. **Broadening the scope is only useful if the user's problem is still being addressed**. In this particular case, it's doubtful, due to the relative popularity of Linux and OS X on this site. Going back to the SSD example, Apple still hasn't managed to support TRIM on third party SSD drives. Any question about SSD maintenance and correct use, cleanup, etc. must therefore retain the OS tag. There are is the issue of users **using tags to navigate this site**. If you're looking for questions or answers relating to [tag:ubuntu], and the question isn't tagged, you won't see it. The missing [tag:osx] would certainly have prevented me from answering the question linked above. You're also creating another problem by broadening the scope: If you give a good answer you have a certain **expectation of being rewarded** for it. This is only possible if you're actually addressing the user's question. But the user will probably accept the *It's not possible on Windows* answer, completely ignoring your three page Linux C source code that compiles into a utility doing what the user requires. And you posted just because someone *broadened the scope*... Another issue is that, if the only possible answer is **negative**, e.g. *It's not possible* or *This doesn't exist (yet)*, it just won't be posted. Users will posting answers that don't interest the user, and he'll never get the information that it's not possible in his particular, situation. It's not a good idea to edit a question, **broadening the scope, only to have it be closed as exact duplicate or NARQ**. Many questions relating e.g. to backups could fall into this trap, with only specific requirements differentiating these questions from their more widely applicable cousins. --- Moderators have the amazing superpower to **merge questions**. If there is a situation with multiple (useful) questions, that aren't duplicates but can be merged and still retain their usefulness, ask about it here on Meta, flag the question, or ask a diamond moderator in chat. If the topic is important enough, [**create a community wiki FAQ question**](http://meta.superuser.com/questions/1856/help-create-and-maintain-community-faqs) like @slhck did with [this one](http://superuser.com/questions/284342/what-are-path-and-other-environment-variables-and-how-can-i-set-or-use-them) and close everything else as duplicates, [although we're still debating how to handle some of these topics](http://meta.superuser.com/questions/3694/what-should-we-do-with-those-ever-recurring-image-entire-hard-drive-questions). Your specific example suffers from being a software recommendation question [which is generally considered off topic on this site, although the FAQ doesn't state it *at all*](http://meta.superuser.com/questions/3587/update-the-faq-to-disallow-any-product-recommendation-questions). So instead of three copies of this question (one per popular OS), or one question (the unified all-encompassing), we'd probably prefer 0. If you know a good related answer, just post it as a comment to the question. I've done this before, "*On OS X, you could do this or that*" — it doesn't create a non-applicable answer, but could still help someone looking e.g. for solutions that work cross-platform. If, like in the linked topic, some answers work in a broader scope than the question has, just mention it.