Top-posting

Ewan Mac Mahon ewan at macmahon.me.uk
Thu May 5 15:02:52 UTC 2005


On Thu, May 05, 2005 at 09:54:19AM +0100, Pybe wrote:
> Shouldn't there be a rule list setup by the list owner which is sent
> to the subscriber at the time of joining and possibly monthly there
> after, stating the expected formating, behaviour etc.
>
It's a thought, but it shouldn't really be necessary.
 
> Still the best way is neither top or bottom in my opinion but inline
> editing of the previous posts.
> 
That's the opinion of pretty well every experienced user, and long
standing culture. The problem here is people who drop into a community
with such a culture and, when informed of it, think their ideas should
take precedence over established social conventions. I'm not sure that
having said conventions somewhere 'offical' is going to make people like
that any more receptive.

> This sort of conversation has been going on for ages, a suitable
> solution should be found to inform from the start rather than have a
> go at people who just need a question answered, 

No-one here owes anyone an answer to anything; and several people have
already said they're inclined to skip badly formatted posts (I know I am
- I don't have to read anyone's mails and if it's more trouble than it's
worth I won't); so it's actually helpful to tell people about proper
posting technique because it makes it more likely that their questions
will be read and answered.

As a side observation I'm not sure the Code Of Conduct is actually
cutting down on the flamewars, but it's certainly making them a lot more
polite :-)

Ewan

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