Editing - what's the purpose, where is the limit?

Question

Yesterday I posted an answer to some topic, and someone edited it. Usually, I'm okay with that, sometimes it happens that I write things wrong or destroyed some markdown tags. And as for myself, I did some edits too, in order to correct similar issues in other people's posts, as well as clarifying some newcomers' posts, etc.

But here the edit goes far more away than just correcting issues and giving more precision:

Maybe I'm the only one to see it that way. But to me, this goes too far for an edit.

First, it almost doubles my answer (from 401 characters to 702). If the edit is that massive, either my answer is wrong in the first place, or the editor really has other things in mind. In both cases, maybe the editor should post his own answer with his thoughts.

Second, it doesn't respect my author's intentions: my phrase was "The important hardwares in render times are the CPU and the GPU.". I MEANT to remain concise and clear. The new informations given by the edit are not needed in the first place: the question is only about the effect of RAM on render time. I'm already giving additional stuff which let the OP go further by its own without drowning him into loads of informations. That was my intention.

And now I get back to my title :

• What is the purpose of edits?
• Where is the limit of what an edit could/should do?

I've found this help page about edits and it says:

Some common reasons to edit are:

• to fix grammatical or spelling mistakes
• to clarify the meaning of a post without changing it
• to correct minor mistakes or add addendums / updates as the post ages
• to add related resources or hyperlinks

It partially helps me to answer my questions, but the issue is that it's a community here, everyone should be on the same level.

Answer 1

From Help > Editing:

Editing is important for keeping questions and answers clear, relevant, and up-to-date. If you are not comfortable with the idea of your contributions being collaboratively edited by other trusted users, this may not be the site for you.

and

Edits are expected to be substantial and to leave the post better than you found it. Common reasons for edits include:

• To fix grammar and spelling mistakes
• To clarify the meaning of the post (without changing that meaning)
• To include additional information only found in comments, so all of the information relevant to the post is contained in one place
• To correct minor mistakes or add updates as the post ages
• To add related resources or hyperlinks

Generally when edits stray near "changing meaning" territory and/or are compelled to make leaps in an effort to clarify, it's good etiquette to leave a comment (or utilize the edit message) with some explanation of the reasoning behind the edit. That said, it looks to me like this edit falls more within the "additional information" category, albeit skipping the comment step.

If you feel that this (or any) edit degrades your post, you may either roll it back, or submit additional edits. For example you might wish to incorporate the additional information, but in a manner you see fit.

Note the complete revision history is saved (even rollbacks), so there's no need to worry about irrevocably trampling others' work.

Also note that users who have edited a post will be notified by comments containing @<username>, so if you wish you can ask the edit's author for clarification directly.

Answer 2

As the editor of that particular post I used the following logic: To include additional information so all of the information relevant to the post is contained in one place. No need for another answer, when the main information is already there, but it could be enhanced or clarified, or give the users other elements to solve the question.

Many posts in this site have been growing and changing over time with additional contributions or corrections as the software evolves.

Things to consider: Is the additional information contradicting or adversely affecting the original content? Is the new information erroneous, not true, or does it misrepresent the original intention? Will other users find this new information no useful or cunfusing? If so, you shuold roll it back...

This site works like this: All questions and answers can be edited, corrected and made better. It is a site curated mostly by users

The goal is to make this site more useful for others (and maybe learn something along the way).

If you want to contribute to the effort please do so. Moreover, I would invite you to help this site be better, not only by adding your own answers but by editing those that you know could be better explained, expanded, that could use further links, images, or whatever you deem correct. Let us learn from your experience and knowledge.

The stated mission, as per the tour

Blender Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for people who use Blender to create 3D graphics, animations, or games. It's built and run by you as part of the Stack Exchange network of Q&A sites. With your help, we're working together to build a library of detailed answers to every question about blender.