On Wed, Jan 23, 2008 at 11:33:59AM -0500, Bill wrote:
> although trimming the previous message would remove the reason to
> reply from the bottom anyways. i thought a botom reply was so that a
> newcommer could always read everything said in order from top to
> bottom
>
> > One of the reasons bottom posting gets a bad rap is because people neglect
> > to *trim* unnecessary content from prior posts when quoting.
>
> although trimming the previous message would remove the reason to
> reply from the bottom anyways. i thought a botom reply was so that a
> newcommer could always read everything said in order from top to
> bottom
This is what I don't understand about all those "I track the thread, so I
prefer top reply so I don't have to read through all the previous crap"
people. If you really feel that way, why not just *remove* the entire
previous message and insert your reply? Of course, you want to aggravate
people, that's a way to do it. We've had people like that on the list, and
the complaints come thick and heavy when they post that way. Maybe IRC is
a better fit for people like this, since history and IRC are mutually
exclusive. Unfortunately, I don't like following multiple conversations at
once, so I'm not a fan of IRC. Besides, it forces me to be at a certain
place at a certain time, whereas I can read and reply to email at my
leisure.
Generally, your reply is only relevant to part of the message you're
replying to. If you have numerous replies to more than one section of a
prior message, that's where interleaving comes in. Your reply is close to
and follows the actual passage you're replying to.
But if you're replying to a message as a whole, even then probably only one
part of the message is pertinent. Snip the rest and reply afterward. Yes,
it's more work. Sorry, email wasn't created so you'd have less to do.
I do follow threads, but when I get 200-300 pieces of mail a day, I don't
remember what was said in prior posts on a given thread. Thus, to me, each
email should stand on its own as a complete package which I can read from
top to bottom in order. No, I don't want to read about distributions, disk
drives and pizza flavors when the relevant part of the reply is about CPU
overheating. Thus, snippage.
Paul
-- Paul M. Foster ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This list is provided as an unmoderated internet service by Networked Knowledge Systems (NKS). Views and opinions expressed in messages posted are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of NKS or any of its employees.
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