[Techtalk] Top Posting (was firewire)

[Brenda Bell]

Quoting Rachel McConnell <rachel at xtreme.com>:

> I'm in the minority here, and i'm top-posting this on purpose to
> demonstrate... but how many of you reading this now really _have_ to
> read any of the rest below for context?

In this particular case, probably none of us... but that's mostly due to
the subject line... let's face it, with a subject line of "Top Posting (was
firewire)", it's pretty obvious what's going on :)

> Top posting allows the reader
> to ignore the previous messages if they're following closely, but to
> have ALL the references there (uncut) if they want to reread the whole
> conversation.  Reader's choice.

Darn it all, I hate it when I can't keep my mouth shut :)

If you're responding at all (top posting, middle posting, bottom posting,
interleave posting, whatever), your post is first and foremost for the
benefit of the person you're responding to.  In the case of someone asking
for help on something, it's much easier for them to comprehend your
response if your answers (or requests for clarification) appear below the
question being addressed... not above.  Interleaved posting follows the
natural order of conversation and the whole point of these lists is to
communicate in a manner that lets all of us benefit from the discussion.

The people who participate in these lists span a wide spectrum when it
comes to language and technical skills.  For many, English is not their
first language (for some, English ***is*** their first language and they
still have trouble with it :)

I think whoever contributed to the Netiquette rules did so from years of
experience, but my favorite one is:  Respect other people's time and bandwidth.

Unfortunately, that means following the rules even if they don't fit our 
preferences.  Having everyone do things the same way means that everyone
spends less time because there's a standard... when a simple thread all of
a sudden turns into a dinosaur, it's very easy to follow if everyone has
been following the rules from the first post; otherwise, it's confusing as
all heck.

Most of us expect consistency in everything else we do, like having an
INSTALL file when we download software or having an index.html when we
download HTML-based documentation.  Why should mailing lists and newsgroups
be any different?

http://www.albion.com/netiquette/rule4.html discusses the "respect" rule
and doesn't even mention the word toppost... but I think it offers a couple
of great reasons for why we shouldn't.

> Rachel
> (who will resume 'proper' habits next post)

Thank you :)

I now relinquish my soap box...

-- 
Brenda
http://opensource.theotherbell.com