topposting (was: colourization in ls command)

David Kelly dkelly at HiWAAY.net
Tue Oct 12 20:30:04 PDT 2004


On Oct 12, 2004, at 5:46 PM, Greg 'groggy' Lehey wrote:

>>> Top posting is generally frowned-upon.  People who indulge in it are
>>> shown to be Microsoft Outlook users, because that is the default of
>>> Outlook.
>>
>> Mac OSX's Mail does the same thing...
>
> If moving the cursor is that difficult, you're probably using the
> wrong tool.

It is correct for the cursor to be placed at the top when forming a 
reply because that is where one is supposed to start EDITING. The 
primary flaw of the top-posting disease is that top-posters don't 
bother to read the entire message which they are re-sending. Had a sane 
person actually read all the bulk in their own reply one would not 
re-send it under their own name. If its not worth being read then why 
send it again?

Things would not be any better if the cursor were placed at the bottom 
and top-posters started typing there without trimming the quoted bulk. 
If the cursor were at the bottom one would have to scroll to the top to 
start trimming.

Trimming is a matter of courtesy to the reader and respect for the mail 
list host. Sadly, trimming skills are lacking among top-posters.

In MacOS X's Mail.app all one has to do is hit the "end" key and click 
the mouse wherever one wishes to type. Or wherever one wishes to start 
trimming.

Even better yet just click-drag highlight the section one wishes to 
reply to, press Apple-R or click a Reply button, and only that 
highlighted section is quote-pasted into the reply. Makes it practical 
to reply to a message in a digest.

When I work for free, others who desire my services will honor my 
format demand or be ignored.
--
David Kelly N4HHE, dkelly at HiWAAY.net
========================================================================
Top-posters will not be shown the honor of a reply.



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