References Re: [Wylug-discuss] List Etiquette: Top Posting vs. Bottom Posting

[Mark P. Conmy]

On Sun, 28 Oct 2007, Roger Beaumont wrote:
>
> Basically, I prefer to see some new material without much (ideally
> any) scrolling, since, if a thread interests me, I've normally read
> the previous posts: top-posting good, inline-posting (as I'd class
> this post of mine) often better, but always remove redundant material
> unless it's going to a new participant.
>
> Roger
>
> PS  I'm not trying to denigrate or argue for change in list policy,
> just to explain my own preference.

To explain my own preference, here goes.

I get a _lot_ of email.  In my job, you have a lot of balls in the air
at the same time.  You have to context switch a _lot_  As a result, the
ideal is to have a little quoting (to set the context) followed by the
meat of the additional contribution.

Type of posting in order of preference for me:

     1  Inline replying, well snipped
     2= Bottom posting, well snipped
     2= Inline posting, well snipped
     4  Top posting, very well snipped
     5  Bottom posting, unsnipped
     6  Inline posting, unsnipped
     7  Top posting, unsnipped

For example, a reply that is short like "what about John" that has a
long post is bad, but if the reply doesn't appear for ten screens
because it's unsnipped is awful.  If I can't remember what that
particular thread was about (because it was last seen two days and
a few hundred messages ago), it's just irritating IMO.

Of course, those who have less email or better memories might not find
it as irritating - I'm just explaining why _I_ dislike it.

And, yes, I am an old-fart Unix user who uses very powerful but
text-based readers...but most users I know of that generation don't
object because of difficulty finding references* (my reader does, for
example), but because it's just not the way it was done and it makes
_less_ sense than bottom/inline posting.

The out-of-order comment was a genuine one.  If you intend someone to
read the text, put it in the order that it makes sense to read.  If not,
don't quote it.  Suddenly, it's not top-posting (which is fine) nor is
it bottom-posting (which is fine) and everyone's happy.

Just my opinion.

Mark

* I have about a thousand active, genuine work-related emails that
   need action (about two hundred threads spread over two accounts).  In
   my email, I don't _keep_ threads "just in case" because that thousand
   would become 10,000 quickly and be unmanageable.