TopPosting !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ted Hilts]

Jeff Fisher wrote:
> Will someone please do something about top-posting?
> Following threads is very difficult at times and top-posting
> seems to becoming more and more obvious.
> Without specifically aiming at anyone in particular, the
> recent topic "Second of several questions" became
> impossible to follow.
>
> Please guys, some of you should know better.
> TIA
> Jeff Fisher
Jeff

That posting was originally posted by me. 

Here are some of my experiences.
1.  I subscribe to many lists and some recognize the "international 
standard" which requires bottom posting and some do not.
2. Often when I use bottom posting (even on Linux and Linux related 
lists) I get ignored because many are not familiar with the standard.
3. Often people snip away the major email comment and address just some 
piece that suits them and someone else jumps in on the snippet and 
effectively starts a new stream without changing the subject name.
4. On the business side of things (especially those using Outlook 
Express and some other emailers) they expect the response to be at the 
top.  When they don't see a response at the top they assume the sender 
has duplicated the original.
5. On the Debian list (to which I belong) they have a very strong 
position on following the standard.
6. Although this is not right.  If I feel my request or email into the 
list has been ignored I send again with the message at both the top and 
the bottom but my preferred workaround is to put a quick note at the top 
indicating my reply is at the bottom where it should be and that way no 
repondent misses my email.
7. If the list is not monitored then there is very little one can do 
about this confusion.
8.  Often, when a person responds to a complex question they address 
only a small snippet and people do not track back on the stream (or even 
try to track back -- because they don't know how) and this leaves the 
snippet with the last word and the complex question disregarded.

For example, I tried to get help on a Ubuntu problem which for me has 
turned into a very weird problem -- one which is frustrating and hard to 
explain.  If I knew what the problem was I could fix it myself but it is 
one of those problems that are hard to identify. Ubuntu simply refuses 
to respond to other machines on my LAN but it can successfully instigate 
samba and other operations to all machines on the LAN (both Linux and MS 
OS). Also, Ubuntu is not visible to MS OS machines. Also, MS OS machines 
cannot map a drive or directory to this Ubuntu machine. Also, telnet 
(from XP to Ubuntu) works. But at this moment it is working 
wonderfully.  Coincidentally to this improvement I fired up another 
Linux machine (SuSE) having a DNS service active. Perhaps this 
improvement has something to do with the NMBD component of Samba which 
can behave either as a WINS server or a WINS client but NOT both at the 
same time. I read something that suggests to me that another server can 
step into the fray on behalf of this condition and resolve it.  If that 
is true then the second server (SuSE) must have somehow resolved the 
conflict (one becoming the client and the other becoming the server and 
one acting on behalf of the other).  I am pretty sure this whole 
situation has to have something to do with WINS resolution (by Ubuntu).  
Usually I have more than one Linux machine running but this time I had 
two running.  If you have any comments on this complicated issue I would 
certainly welcome your comments.

I also had at this same time another confusing situation.  My set up on 
the Ubuntu machine is dual boot with XP.  The boot assignment  of mount 
points on the XP machine remained constant for each start up but not so 
with the Ubuntu set up.  On my Ubuntu desktop the hard drive mounts  
show the XP designations and order.  When I change that  order (by 
moving the icons around)  on my Ubuntu desk top a certain way then the 
mount assignments remain contant (that is the mount points remain the 
same after each shutdown).  If I don't do this (set up the physical 
order of the hard drive icons a certain way) then Ubuntu establishes 
different mount points for the whole arrangement of hard drives. I need 
to talk to the same drive with the same designation and this is how I 
managed that situation.

But all of this was going on at the same time.

Anyway, as I write this the Ubuntu system appears to be working properly 
and the XP machines can see the Ubuntu shares as well as the Linux 
machines and there is no confusion regarding the Ubuntu mount points. 
But I am very nervous about the present situation because I am not 
certain whether I understand properly what is going on in terms of LAN 
machine interations.

Sooner of later I will have to shut this whole thing down and keep my 
fingers crossed that I understand properly all the interactions. 

Hope to hear your ideas and anyone else's.

Thanks -- Ted