From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S271694AbTGXPcf (ORCPT ); Thu, 24 Jul 2003 11:32:35 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S271695AbTGXPce (ORCPT ); Thu, 24 Jul 2003 11:32:34 -0400 Received: from 24-216-225-11.charter.com ([24.216.225.11]:4004 "EHLO wally.rdlg.net") by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S271694AbTGXPcb (ORCPT ); Thu, 24 Jul 2003 11:32:31 -0400 Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 11:47:32 -0400 From: "Robert L. Harris" To: Steven Cole Cc: bill davidsen , linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, Tomas Szepe Subject: Re: Posting format Message-ID: <20030724154732.GJ32585@rdlg.net> Mail-Followup-To: Steven Cole , bill davidsen , linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, Tomas Szepe References: <20030723201801.GB32585@rdlg.net> <20030723212224.A527@infradead.org> <20030723220037.GC32585@rdlg.net> <20030723225333.GC16244@louise.pinerecords.com> <1059059667.1672.202.camel@spc9.esa.lanl.gov> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/signed; micalg=pgp-sha1; protocol="application/pgp-signature"; boundary="VkqCAaSJIySsbD6j" Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <1059059667.1672.202.camel@spc9.esa.lanl.gov> User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.4i Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org --VkqCAaSJIySsbD6j Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Thus spake Steven Cole (elenstev@mesatop.com): > On Wed, 2003-07-23 at 17:32, bill davidsen wrote: > > A one or two line summary at the top of an article often saves the > > reader from reading the entire thing. > >=20 > > In article <20030723225333.GC16244@louise.pinerecords.com>, > > Tomas Szepe wrote: > [snipped] > > |=20 > > | Would you people please stop replying above the original messages? > > |=20 > > | One could say this evil (pioneered by certain silly mail clients btw) > > | has been spreading like plague around here lately. > > |=20 > > | Quoting the lkml FAQ -> > > | (REG) And please reply after the quoted text, not before it (as per R= FC > > | 1855). It's very confusing to see a reply before the quoted context. > >=20 > [snipped] > >=20 > > | And > > | it's embarrassing: it makes you look like a newbie. Change your mail= er if > > | necessary, if the one you have makes it hard to do reply-after-quotin= g. > > | I know some people like to quote the entire message they are replying= to, > > | so they put their reply right at the top so people won't give up afte= r the > > | first page of quoted material. Don't do it. It's annoying. Just le= arn to > > | stop quoting everything. No-one wants to see it all anyway (list arc= hives > > | allow people to see everything if they missed it). You're not helping > > | yourself anyway, as you're more likely to be ignored if you > > | reply-before-quoting. > >=20 > > Seriously, you have a point, but his two liner did not require the > > context of the bulk of the post. There have been some far worse choices > > of top posting, and the main reason for not top posting is because it's > > hard to read *when context is needed*. > >=20 > > Your point is good, I think you could have picked a number of better > > examples to make it. >=20 > More exposition regarding top vs bottom posting: Replying at the bottom > results in an easily parseable tree. Consider the following conversation > where everyone replies at the bottom. On the other hand if everyone posted at the top it would be considerably easier reading for those who have been following the conversation without having to scroll down and figure out where comments and the conversation is at. You could read just the top post and go from there. For those new to the conversation they can just start at the bottom and scroll up. When the next post comes in they just read the top post again instead of scrolling down to the bottom or middle somewhere to figure out what/when/where. Using VI and Mutt, the cursor starts at the top not the bottom or anywhere in the middle so there's and ease of use for CLI mail readers as well instead of the GUI oriented. :wq! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Robert L. Harris | GPG Key ID: E344DA3B @ x-hkp://pgp.mit.edu=20 DISCLAIMER: These are MY OPINIONS ALONE. I speak for no-one else. Diagnosis: witzelsucht =09 IPv6 =3D robert@ipv6.rdlg.net http://ipv6.rdlg.net IPv4 =3D robert@mail.rdlg.net http://www.rdlg.net --VkqCAaSJIySsbD6j Content-Type: application/pgp-signature Content-Disposition: inline -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.2 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQE/H/+U8+1vMONE2jsRAkVtAJ9CuXhH9QJUiVLyDG1vLuO10x69gwCfaXHx 5LG3mXzwFOIvpVX95wbAPH0= =QKst -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --VkqCAaSJIySsbD6j--