Re: [boost] What's wrong with top-posting?

Subject: Re: [boost] What's wrong with top-posting?
From: Paul A. Bristow (pbristow_at_[hidden])
Date: 2017-06-26 13:46:01

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Boost [mailto:boost-bounces_at_[hidden]] On Behalf Of Brian Wood via Boost
> Sent: 25 June 2017 23:31
> To: boost
> Cc: Brian Wood
> Subject: Re: [boost] What's wrong with top-posting?
> 
> David Abrahams writes:
> > At Tue, 26 Jan 2010 10:09:43 -0800,
> > Robert Ramey wrote:
> >>
> > > I thought I was familiar with the guidelines and never remembered this.
> >>
> >> I top-post all the time.   It seems much more natural to me when
> >> it's not convenient to intersperse comments into the previous
> >> message. Why I like top posting:
> >>
> >> a)  It means that I don't have to scroll to the bottom of a message
> >> which is sometimes pretty long.
> >> b) To me it is more natural to follow the style
> >> of other communications (artilcle, books, etc) which make
> >>  their point in the main text and refer to footnotes, bibliographies,
> >> etc at the end of the main text.
> >
> > c) You don't confuse or even *upset* (as I've discovered the hard way)
> >   many people in the business world, where top-posting and
> >   overquoting is the accepted standard.  Every message drags along
> >   the entire thread history with it, and you keep a record of
> >  everything by storing the final message. (yuck) It's a cultural
> >   thing, and Boost fits into the open-source programmer weenie
>  >  culture much more than the business culture.
> 
> I was getting annoyed by some top-posting here recently,
> so I dug up this thread.
> 
> Is an "open-source programmer weenie culture" like a nerdy
> culture?

No - it's the original and traditional - or it was, before Microsoft unilaterally used their muscle to break with tradition and make
top posting the 'Standard' in all Windows mailers.  (The cursor for replying is placed at the top of the page, not the bottom).

There are pros and cons to both top and bottom posting, but like most endian-type arguments, there are NO pros to a *mixture* of top
and bottom posting.

Boost has always bottom posted and I don't see any good reason to change.

You can always see the full discussions on sites like Nabble.

Paul

PS It is also traditional to stick to plain text - usable by everyone and no risk of nasties hidden in HTML.

---
Paul A. Bristow
Prizet Farmhouse
Kendal UK LA8 8AB
[phone]