On Saturday 09 October 2004 1:54 pm, Patrick Shanahan wrote:
* Paul W. Abrahams
[10-09-04 10:52]: But Carlos, how about the case where I'm answering a post that raises issues A, B, and C, each of which merits a particular response? The logical order of my answer is A, response to A, B, response to B, C, response to C. Even using an MUA such as the one you recommend, I lose the association between each issue and the response to it if I don't quote A, B, and C in the proper places.
But postings are supposedly to address singular issues each to allow interested parties to follow their *own* interests w/o being required to sift thru the flufffff.
I don't really disagree, Patrick, but a single issue may still have several related aspects. Excessive fragmentation is the hazard on one side, wandering threads on the other. When to split is a judgment call. Knowledge is tree-structured and interlinked but text is irremediably linear (hyperlinks don't change that). You can't win. Paul