Since most people use threaded mail readers that go from oldest to newest, this isn't much of a problem for most people.
You should look for a better mail reader. George Sexton MH Software, Inc. http://www.mhsoftware.com/ Voice: 303 438 9585 > -----Original Message----- > From: Peter Crowther [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Tuesday, January 03, 2006 9:35 AM > To: Tomcat Users List > Subject: [OT] Top posting (was RE: question) > > > From: Carl Olivier [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > A lot of people on this forum Top Post. > > > > Is this really such a big issue? > > I can sum it up with the following quote: > > -- snip -- > A: Top posting. > > Q: What's the most confusing thing about mailing list messages? > -- snip -- > > If I'm reading through list traffic, I cannot remember the context of > each thread, and that context may jump about as different posters > respond to different parts of a thread at different times. *Carefully > trimmed* context, followed by a response, helps me get up to speed and > respond more quickly and possibly more accurately than I otherwise > would. However, speaking personally, I'd rather somebody top-posted > than left ten pages of mangled context in place and added a > line at the > bottom. > > A message to a mailing list will get read many more times than it is > written. Overall, time is saved if the poster makes the effort to > create a clear, communicative message. However, the poster's time is > typically saved by not doing so, and an individual will > usually only do > something if it is worthwhile to *them* rather than to the > community at > large. That's life. I'd like to think that if I reliably construct > clear messages, regulars on the list may choose to respond to me where > they wouldn't choose to respond to a messy, mangled message*. > However, > I've not seen or done any studies to check whether this might be the > case. > > - Peter > > * Interested parties may wish to check the game theory literature for > repeated rounds in games, of which the most famous is probably the > repeated Prisoner's Dilemma. > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
