--- Andre Dubuc <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > After googling 'Web Etiquette, Top Posting', I still am puzzled > why some people on this list insist that top posting is bad form, > rather than personal preference.
I don't think these two things are mutually exclusive. Yes, there is a difference between fact and opinion, but if you assume that every opinion is not worth abiding by, you would do many things the "wrong" way. :-) > The arguments seem to be balanced on either side. I don't think popularity is a good basis of comparison. If this were your method of comparison, I bet you would conclude that Microsoft Windows is the most secure operating system. However, if you only listen to the world's top security professionals, I bet you would come to the conclusion that something like OpenBSD is the most secure operating system. You just have to learn who to listen to. > Further, after searching the list's archives on the subject, I > noted that the archives are organized by latest response => > oldest Yes, and this should make it abundantly clear that most archives expect the reader to be able to discern the context from any email message, and this is the key point. For example, if this email that I am writing is the first (or only) message that someone reads in this thread, the context is still very clear. The relevant parts of your email to which I am replying are included, and I reply after them. The discussion is preserved, and the reader doesn't have to constantly scroll back and forth to discern the flow of conversation. > I've been on this list, on-and-off, for a few years, and > somehow I must have missed the discussion on the unwritten rule > of bottom-posting. Perhaps someone could enlighten me with a url? Your searches should have yielded plenty of resources to read. This is obviously not a rule; it's simply a best practice. On other mailing lists, poor email formatting is probably not noticed as often, but this list has a large proportion of programmers, and programmers tend to be very specific about details. In fact, I bet a lot of people on this list could debate what is the best length for a line in an email, what is the best format for attribution, and things like that. But, for those who care, including only the relevant bits of the message to which you are replying and replying in the order that the conversation is taking place are practices that are rarely disputed. Hope that helps. Chris ===== Chris Shiflett - http://shiflett.org/ PHP Security - O'Reilly Coming December 2004 HTTP Developer's Handbook - Sams http://httphandbook.org/ PHP Community Site http://phpcommunity.org/ -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
