Help Ubuntu 8.10 X server has started crashing 1-2 per day

[Derek Broughton]

Thomas Wolf wrote:

> In any case, I understand that reading a book chronologically is easier
> than alternatives.  But an e-mail thread is nothing like reading a book
> - except for the person jumping into the middle of it, trying to catch
> up on what has transpired so far.  

Huh?  What about those of us who read a few hundred emails a day?  Do you
really expect me to remember context?

> So, does the authors of a 
> contribution to the thread cater to the person new to the thread who,
> for whatever reason, doesn't have a mail client capable of showing the
> threaded messages in chronological order, or does he cater to the people
> who are familiar with the topic already?  

Wow!  You _read_ the whole thread every time?  I have a capable mail client,
thanks, and I don't even let it show me the whole thread.  I can jump back
to a complete message if I want, by clicking on the appropriate header, but
I want enough context in a reply to make it obvious what someone responds
to.

> For the latter, placing the 
> new content at the beginning is more convenient than having to scroll
> through the "reference" material first.  

You miss the point as most top-posters do.  You should NEVER have to scroll
through the reference material.  Top-posters almost never trim at all. 
Bottom-posters who don't just don't get read.  Quoting should always be in
context - and if you don't quote at all, I'm not likely to read what you
wrote.

> Do you agree that both points of view have merit?  

Nope.