Note on TRIMMING, was: Why do people detest top posting so much?

[M. Fioretti]

On Fri, Feb 27, 2009 08:51:44 AM -0800, Ray Parrish wrote:
> >   

> >> There is a solution for that. If you use Thunderbird for email,
> >> get the add on called Quote Collapse.
> >
> > Definitely bad advice.  People should be free to use Evolution,
> > mutt, Gnus,... to follow the Mailing List.
>
> Sure they should, but I prefer to use a client that has a richer
> feature set that enhances my ability to communicate instead of just
> providing basic functionality...  And I do not see where it can be
> considered "bad advice" to let people know of a solution to a
> problem they are obviously having.

I have quote collapsing in mutt (via t-prot) and is a really, really
useful feature. Yours, of course, is not "bad advice". It's just
important to remember that, in the context of this discussion, its
utility and applicability are very limited.

When it comes to mailing lists (=communicating, via email or email
archives, with people you know nothing about):

- people posting from study or work account may not have a choice of
  which email client to use

- there is no browser or mail archive manager I know of which can
  collapse email quotes inside HTML pages, so everybody using the
  archives has to endure overquoting, even if his or her email client
  supports the feature.

- quote collapsing doesn't help a bit on a metered connection
  (dial-up, GPRS, many ADSL low-end offers...): you may not see those
  500 lines of text re-posted (top or bottom is irrelevant) just to
  add "I agree", but you will have still paid for them anyway.

That's why I started this related thread. Trim as much as possible
when you reply to a mailing list, and you'll make everybody happy, be
they top or bottom posters. Very often, top or bottom posting is a
problem and a flamewar starter ONLY because of lack of trimming.

	Marco Fioretti
	http://mfioretti.net
-- 
Your own civil rights and the quality of your life heavily depend on how
software is used *around* you:            http://digifreedom.net/node/84