For the sake of making an example that's easy to understand: If I were a Java w/ Spring developer using Eclipse, would the following question be acceptable?
What's an alternative to Eclipse for Java developers who use Spring Framework?
Or perhaps an example a bit more general...
What's an alternative to the stock Gmail app on Android phones?
I'd think that questions like this are very well suited for this community. though generally I think they would be better received if it contained some key pieces of information
No.
This is not a good platform for just browsing for alternative software. Recommending a piece of software for a certain task is inherently different that suggesting alternatives to a known piece of software. I suggest that this site will work reasonably well for the former but very poorly for the latter.
The most obvious case is looking for "alternative to X on platform Y". The classic case of this has apparently already been asked:
This is a really bad fit for this format because there is no specific problem to solve. This is a basic database lookup query, not a call for expertise. Worse, this question has no scope that would make the choice of a specific music player over another beyond the reasons everybody else used to pick a player. In short the best answer to this question is the most popular music manager apps for Linux. This not a question you need to pose to experts, it is a poll. As it turns out there is a site that does that pretty well. It's called –get this– alternativeTo!
Note it's results for alternatives to iTunes for Linux. Given the lack of criteria or problem to solve, this is all the answer that question calls for. It is a database query on possible alternatives sorted by popularity.
If this sort of question is to be allowed, this site will not add anything meaningful to the internet. Let's save our question space for problems that need solving and specific criteria that aren't immediately apparent without a little expertise in the field.
Disclaimer: I have no vested interest in AlternativeTo.net, I just think this format of question should be left to databases that are set up for this sort of cross referensing instead of hoisting it on the QnA format here.
Take a look at Laying some ground rules for Software Recommendations.
What's the best IDE for Python?
This will be closed immediately, as it does not:
•Explain in detail what you hope to get out of an IDE in terms of features, license or cost
•List any applicable frameworks that you might be using, or other possible compatibility quirks with your workflow
•Indicate any that you had previously tried, and why you didn't like them
•Do anything else to encourage answers to be as specific as possible
•Obviously, 'best' without context is never going to work - in fact please try to just avoid the word in titles. If you ask about an IDE for Python on Linux that has (features), we're pretty certain people aren't going to recommend the worst.
What Python IDEs support Django?
This is a much better question, as you've really narrowed the possible answers with some additional criteria. If you can add more criteria in the question body, then you've got the makings of something that is useful, and very unlikely to receive a bunch of mostly link answers.
I would say that while your first example is on the edge, but could be a good candidate with improvement, your second example is too general and not a good fit at all.
All readers should be able to understand the question without knowing SuperMechTools2000. Of course, if you are asking for mechanical engineering software you can expect readers to have mechanical engineering knowledge, that's OK, but do not expect that people know SuperMechTools2000. Describe your requirements in terms of mechanical engineering, not in terms of SuperMechTools2000.
That applies for the title:
... and the question body:
