[LAU] Top Posting [Was: Linux compatible keybord controller?]

Q lists at quirq.net
Thu Jan 2 15:30:55 UTC 2014


On 02/01/14 14:44, Len Ovens wrote:
>
> Bottom posting is not outdated at all, it is merely polite. On a high
> volume list top posting wastes the readers time. So instead of one
> writer taking a little more time to do things right, a large number of
> readers have to spend extra time flipping up and down trying to figgure
> our what the writer is saying. If mail clients make proper replying hard
> or imposible then they have a bug and should be fixed or not used. I am
> sure that if people started looking for another email client for their
> phone, google would fix theirs right away so they can continue to trace
> your internet tracks....
>
> --
> Len Ovens
> www.ovenwerks.net

There's nothing inherently polite about it at all, it's only because 
it's considered the norm that to do otherwise is considered impolite. 
Again, it's begging the question. If -- oh, happy day! -- top-posting 
were considered the norm, bottom-posting would be the height (or depth) 
of rudeness.

The theory that bottom-posting is better is highly dependent upon people 
trimming down previous messages and many, many people don't do that. 
Then there are arguments caused by people being quoted out of context. 
It might be a fine idea in theory, but it falls down in practice.

It's not the "proper" replying that's a problem, it's the proper reading 
-- every message in this thread, I've had to scroll to some degree to be 
able to read what people have said. Had all the message been top-posted 
I could have read the replies straightaway -- I don't need to read the 
previous message. If I were to refer back at a later date, it's no big 
deal to scroll down and work your way back up.

It's interesting that it's always a question of mail clients needing to 
be fixed or having bugs and never that, just perhaps, the idea of 
bottom-posting itself is what's broken.



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