I was discussing this very matter with a colleague but half an hour ago; he/she serves as an editor on a well respected international academic journal. Her/his opinion is that top posting is the only appropriate method. Thus, there are differences of opinion.
"There are differences of opinion" is all that can be gained from this though, appeal to authority is a logical fallacy ;)
May we all settle this once and for all if it is insisted that based on one's response ordering, threading, etc., work will be put into the dustbin (/dev/null, spam, trash, whatever)? May the "owner/s" of this list put forward official standards of etiquette as well as clarity about the matter of threading, and the correct method(s) so that threading will be respected?
Even if there were such a thing, it would be hard to enforce it, beyond social interactions.
Personally, I prefer the bottom posting with interspersing *key* points of information, otherwise it just becomes a big pile of spaghetti :)
However, if a thread starts to do top posting, I will try to follow that convention.
BTW, this sort of argument is colloquially known as Bikeshedding. I suggest everyone with a vested interest in this look it up ;)
Hope all is well with everyone, -Chris
