Top-posting, HTML-formatted mail, flaming, shouting and so on, was Re: KUBUNTU

[Chris Miller]

Well Bob, I think that top posting has its moments of use, and also
has its moments of annoyance.

On 5/14/07, Robert Parker <rlp1938 at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 5/14/07, Stew Schneider <stew.schneider at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Top post, bottom post, post in the middle...who cares? I'm as happy as I
> > want to be, and you can't affect that by where you post. My feeling is
> > "get over it", but, as I say, that's just me.
>
> Many times top or bottom posting doesn't matter. I am a member of one
> list that has a social purpose and consequently very little actual
> debate. But when a matter of debate does happen it goes to
> missunderstanding very quickly with top posting because no reader
> actually understands what the reply is about.
>
> In debate top posting is useless, dangerous, and simply demonstrates
> that the poster is lazy at least and possibly stupid.

Top posting is relatively okay when you're not replying to any one
specific thing but the whole message.  If you are going to top post,
make sure it's relevant to the whole message, or you are being
lazy/stupid.  If you're only really commenting on one paragraph, post
below that paragraph, as I'm demonstrating.

> As pointed out elsewhere, the list owners determine the rules of the
> list, so anyone breaching the required etiquette should be pulled into
> line but gently I hope.

I don't know who the list owners are.  If they'd step forward that'd
be nice so I could tell who to not flame ;^)  I've been on this list
for a long while, and I haven't seen any list leadership at all.
However, to their credit, there hasn't been much, if any, need for
leadership.  I think that this is one of the only lists I'm subscribed
to that doesn't have any spam.  Good job to the list owners on that
point.  However, if people are getting really irked by some
list-etiquette issues, then the leadership should step forward and
create order, or else we are ruled by The Forces of Chaos.

-- 
Do you know Java?  Want to build a video game?  Don't want to lead the
project yourself?  Want to work on mine with me?  Then contact me -
there's plenty of fun work to be done, and not enough me to do it :)