On 09/09/09 19:40, Gene Kwiecinski wrote:
>
>> I can see the moderators are patient and polite when reminding bottom
>> posting. IMO your analogy is inappropriate.
>
> Well, I don't really care about what any moderators might do on the
> list, but those who *insist* on top-posting, sending html email with
> garish colorschemes or blinding backgrounds, anything annoying or even
> *offensive* to some, should be prepared to have their posts be ignored
> and deleted unread by those of us who find such rude behavior offensive.
>
> And yes, it's *rude* to take the "Screw you, I don't care what *your*
> guidelines/conventions happen to be, I'll do what *I* damned well
> please!".
>
> Well, I don't reward that kind of bad behavior by replying any more than
> if someone were to post, "Hey retards, how do you delete lines from 3 to
> 10 in one shot?".
>
> Hey, if they want to take that chance, fine by me... I'm not going to
> nag them about it, I'm not going to argue the merits of bottom-posting
> or plaintext-only email with them, I'll simply ignore them.
>
> And there's a big clue right there. If someone who insists on
> top-posting, or sending garish html email, etc., were to not get a
> single reply to his query, later ask why not, *then* someone would clue
> in the person as to why not, hey, he'll *learn*. But as long as people
> give the rude posters an exhaustive answer, and only a parenthetical "We
> try to not top-post here." or "Ow, that blinding background hurt my
> eyes.", there's zero incentive to *not* correct that behavior. What
> does he care, now that he's *gotten* his answer? You don't give a dog
> his treat first and then ask him to sit up, roll over, bark, whatever.
> No, you deny the treat *until* he does what you ask of him.
>
> Is that rather condescending, treating a rude poster as a dog? Maybe,
> but I *guarantee* you that approach will eventually work.
>
> 'Nuff said.
Maybe this is part of my being "not wicked enough to be a teacher", but
I believe in mutual respect. To the newcomer who apparently top-posts
through ignorance, I'll give (the first time at least) a full reply,
with maybe a P.S. about bottom-posting, in the hope that my respect and
friendliness towards him will elicit respect and friendliness towards
the list, and a desire to behave the next time.
To the guy whose post is _nothing but_ a cursory, unfounded assertion
that top-posting is better, or to the individual who repeatedly and
systematically _always_ top posts, I'll answer much more flippantly, as
I did a few minutes ago to a post higher up in this thread.
As for the guy saying "Hey retards, how do you delete lines from 3 to
10 in one shot?", as in the case you mentioned, the reply might be a
simple RTFM reply like
:help :delete
or
:h :d
or even
:help change.txt
but if, _in addition_, he posted it in bright yellow on pale pink or
some other garishly blinding or insufficiently contrasting colours, I
might ignore him altogether even though hitting "Reply to All" would
have converted his post to quoted text in standard colours in a
plaintext reply.
IOW, I believe in patience (but not unlimited) and smiling, rather than
flogging and beating, as educational tools. Maybe I'm wrong.
Best regards,
Tony.
--
Famous last words:
(1) Don't unplug it, it will just take a moment to fix.
(2) Let's take the shortcut, he can't see us from there.
(3) What happens if you touch these two wires tog--
(4) We won't need reservations.
(5) It's always sunny there this time of the year.
(6) Don't worry, it's not loaded.
(7) They'd never (be stupid enough to) make him a manager.
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