[NTLUG:Discuss] list etiquette

[terry]

Jeff Demel wrote:

>Personally, I prefer top posting for a couple reasons.
>
>One, it seems to make more logical sense.  For example, my email inbox
>displays new messages on top and the progressively older messages as it goes
>down.  
>
Yes, Micorsoft's Outlook Express defaults to showing newer messages at 
the top but I'm pretty sure it's still up to you whether you want to 
stay with the default or reverse it, but I fail to see what that has to 
do with top posting.

>I don't have to guess the sequence of messages or look at the time
>stamp, I know which came in first and which came in last.  
>
Neither do I, and I don't see what that's got to do with top posting either.

>For me, the body
>of the email makes more logical sense if written in the same way.  If I'm
>following a thread that is top posting, I've already read the messages
>below, so all I have to do is read the new one, right there on top.  If I
>come in to the thread later, then all I have to do is start from the bottom
>
Start from the bottom?
..... Somehow that makes no since [to me] at all?

>and work my way up or start from the first post and read each in sequence
>(if the original messages have been removed).And second, bottom and in-line posting can get way out of hand and confusing.  How irritating is it to have to scroll down and try to figure out which part is the new message and which is the old?
>

Well if every one's bottom-posting there's no problem figuring which is 
the new part.  First comes the question, then comes the answers. What 
could be more logical?

(It  IS confusing when some bottom post and others top post.)

>  Especially when
>email clients can quote out original messages differently.  Is it set off by
>tabs?  Is it set off by greater than (>)?  Is it set of by anything?  When
>it's re-posted, does the client add another greater than sign or tab,
>pushing the text farther and farther right, until it starts breaking the
>lines at odd intervals?  And which is which?  And what if each e-mail client
>is doing something different?  And it is so irritating how easy it is to
>confuse authors when someone uses in-line posting.  Usually, the first time
>it's done in a thread it's easy to follow.  However, if it's done again or
>three times or four times...  Damn that gets confusing.  And most folks
>aren't careful enough to go through and credit each instance with author and
>date stamp.
>
>That's just my $.02, and probably an extremely minority opinion, I know.
>
>-Jeff
>  
>
And there goes mine [$.02].  :)

-- 
Registered Linux User #188099
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