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I was recently looking at some of the answers to the question Where does PostgreSQL store the database?

The user didn't give any context in terms of what environment he was working under which resulted in a few "In (insert operating system here) you...." kind of answers.

A comment on this answer caught my eye, where a user said:

Don't answer in an OS specific way unless the question explicitly states the OS.

Is there value in really open-ended questions like this where you'll find a variety of solutions for different situations? Should we instead be drilling askers for every minute detail to keep questions explicit? What happens if a user was to post a question asking the same question, but under a specific OS environment, would that technically be a duplicate?

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    Given that you can't really answer the question without knowing the specific implementation (i.e. the OS) it seems like that's required information. The SE model specifically states that it's not appropriate to have lots of answers each answering different parts of the question. You should be able to have a single answer answer the question, or the question isn't appropriate. – Servy Feb 26 '13 at 18:14
  • Looks like a NARQ closing candidate, actually. – Martijn Pieters Feb 26 '13 at 18:30

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