RE: [boost] Discussion policy

From: Stewart, Robert (stewart_at_[hidden])
Date: 2002-03-27 10:56:22

From: David Abrahams [mailto:david.abrahams_at_[hidden]]
> 
> From: "Chuck Allison" <cda_at_[hidden]>
> > You (and I) just top-posted :-).
> >
> > From: "David Abrahams" <david.abrahams_at_[hidden]>
> > > I agree. Would you like to submit a website patch? I would gladly
> help
> > > to edit it.
> > >
> > > From: "Vladimir Prus" <ghost_at_[hidden]>
> > >
> > > > after reading the Boost mailing list for quite a lot time now, I
> can
> > > say that
> > > > there's one thing which makes reading it very hard. 
> That thing is
> > > > top-posting. As a result, instead of sigle thread that I can
> 
> And this confuses some mailers?? I'm inclined to suggest that the
> problem is with the mailer, not the top-quoter in this case. When
> posting a very short comment it can be best to for human 
> readers to see
> the comment and look further down to notice, "oh yeah, that's the
> context of this discussion". Scrolling past the discussion that's
> already been seen is not terribly user-friendly.

I disagree.  I dislike replies preceding that to which they apply.  I guess
it's rather like some people's dislike of post-fix notation (RPN)
calculators.  You get a bunch of information and then understand its
relevance later.  (I happen to like RPN calculators; that was just an
analogy!)

Overquoting remains an issue regardless of whether you reply at the top of
the message or interstitially.  With the former style, it is terribly common
to quote the entire message to which one replies, leaving the reader to try
to determine to which portion the writer is actually replying.  Furthermore,
in an environment where people post both ways, one must scroll to the bottom
of all messages to determine whether there is more of the reply later in the
message.  When one finds nothing but quoted text, it is frustrating.

With the latter style (interstitial replies), overquoting makes for long
messages with too much context to read.  That hinders productivity, which is
a problem with a busy list like Boost.

My point, then, is that one should quote only what is germane to the reply
in order to ensure that readers understand the context for the reply.
"Quote as much as needed, but no more," to paraphrase a popular dictum.

> I really hope that newsreaders do better. If we ever get the nntp
> interface for boost running, it will make everyone's life 
> much simpler.

I agree.

Rob
Susquehanna International Group, LLP
http://www.sig.com