[thelist] Please trim, please don't top post.

[Ken Schaefer]

On Mon, 26 Jul 2004 15:40:13 +0100, Richard Davey <rich at launchcode.co.uk> wrote:

> KS> : 1) http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc1855.html
> 
> KS> Maybe I'm missing things, but I don't see anything in this RFC about
> KS> top -vs- bottom posting. Can you point me to the relevant section?
> 
> That would be this part (3.1.1):
> 
>    - If you are sending a reply to a message or a posting be sure you
>      summarize the original at the top of the message, or include just
>      enough text of the original to give a context.  This will make
>      sure readers understand when they start to read your response.
>      Since NetNews, especially, is proliferated by distributing the
>      postings from one host to another, it is possible to see a
>      response to a message before seeing the original.  Giving context
>      helps everyone.  But do not include the entire original!


Thanks Richard, I missed the bit about summarizing at the top in that
paragraph. However, surely the point here is to trim unnecessary text,
and leave enough of the original post to give some kind of context to
your reply (well, that's how I read that para as I skimmed through the
document)? Personally I don't care whether the reply is above, or
below the original text. The poster should use their common sense in
determining whether a top, or bottom post is better in the
circumstances.


> The sooner people stop top-posting, the better.

Better for who? I posted a list of technical reasons why top posting
might be preferred.

>From a personal point of view, I'm not interested in communities that
want to be so an*l as to dictate a posting format. As long as list
members take the time to edit their posts, demonstrating that they put
some thought into the reply, I welcome their contributions. If the
general consensus is that the posting format is more important than
the contribution (especially the contributions of those that answer
questions), then I'm out of here.

Cheers
Ken