Features can be linked to Initiatives for any product while you can only link a feature to a Goal from its containing product or product lines. This request is to make the goal link equally flexible. In large matrixed organizations, it is fairly common to have multiple product areas working on projects that are supporting goals that fall outside it's direct product line area.
This use case can be addressed using the Goals custom field. And, sometimes, it may be desirable to have two separate goals fields to distinguish between specific goals for the product/product line vs. supporting goals for other products and product lines. However, requiring the use of two goal fields (feature default and custom goal field) to handle this use case can add additional complexity from a setup and reporting perspective.