Per Inge Oestmoen wrote:
I often ignore the posts of those who top post. With top posting, a new reader has to read through much text in order to understand what it is all about. With answers in a logical order following quoted parts of the text to which the reply is given, it becomes much easier -- Per Inge Oestmoen, Norway
And I tend to ignore emails when all I see on the first page is quoted text. I've already read the quoted text in the previous emails because I use TBird with a threaded reader that shows what each posting is in response to -- so I can follow chains backwards and forwards. That little utility that showed the squigglies is clickable. I can click on any node and see who responded to who no matter where it was. With a computer, there is too much information to wade through, so I use interfaces that help me quickly focus on what's important. In that regard, I see bottom posting as a symptom of an unproductive, tedious and can't-see-the-forest-for-the-trees type of person. They can't skim the ideas and get the gestalt -- they need 50 pages of context to have a clue. Well *sometimes* I do to. But I *start* with the top info first, then drill down as I need more background. Why should I read any background or quoted material if what the person has to say is unimportant or inane. If what they say strikes me as important, and I need context, I can generate it on demand. But I want to know what the person says, first, usually. All that said. As others have stated before, there are times for one style over the other. If one cuts down what is quoted to take little visual space, then it's not a problem, as a person's message is still present on the screen. Maybe what's really being complained about here is inappropriate quoting of entire emails ... in which case our views aren't so far apart -- but there are so many new people coming onto the net -- far better to lead by example than spread so much negativity by complaining about people's posting style -- it stirs up negativity in me and I feel a need to retort back -- not on every posting, but I see it so often it sickens me -- and I occasionally boil over... It's just ridiculous. As for using long logs as references -- google is your friend. It takes you to the references you need so you don't have to read through long paged emails. Besides, this isn't the "opensuse-internals-developers", it's the user's lists for mutual aid and support as well as, hopefully, aid from those on the project. If an email is of reference quality -- put it on a wiki. One of my emails ended up on a suse wiki a few years back because I took the time to answer a question rather than wasting everyone's time complaining. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org