Central locking problem / question

Jeff Strickland <crwlr DeleteThis @verizon.net> wrote:
>That assumes others are not getting the same posts I am getting. My
>assumption is that everybody gets the same posts, and if ALL REPLIES are
>either top posted or bottom posted, following along is easy. When the
>Replies are mixed top and bottom, then it gets very ugly very fast.

Not everybody gets the same posts you are getting, and they don't get
them in the same order or with with same sequence numbers. There are
70,000 Usenet servers around the world and they are all configured
a little differently and all get their feed a little differently.

Top-posting is generally considered rude, in part because it was
introduced by AOL bozos when AOL joined Usenet, but in part because
it discourages proper trimming of replies. Remember that Usenet
was developed in a world where bandwidth was much more expensive than
it is today, and most of the Usenet traditions reflect that.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
 >> Stay informed about: Central locking problem / question 

In article <g493uc$jgh$1@registered.motzarella.org>,
Jeff Strickland <crwlr.DeleteThis@verizon.net> wrote:
> >> I read the post, then click Reply and start typing. I am blessed with
> >> a small amount of retention, and I can remember most of what I read
> >> and Reply without having to read it all over again. I don't need to
> >> read the post AFTER I click Reply because I read it before ...
> >
> > But you're not quoting posts for yourself only - it's for others to
> > follow your points without referring back...

> That assumes others are not getting the same posts I am getting.

Which isn't the case. Different news suppliers sometimes don't always send
in the same order. And some may join a thread after the start. If you
assume *everyone* is conversant with the previous posts and gets
everything in the correct order quoting simply becomes a waste of time.

> My
> assumption is that everybody gets the same posts, and if ALL REPLIES are
> either top posted or bottom posted, following along is easy. When the
> Replies are mixed top and bottom, then it gets very ugly very fast.

Two points. As I said if you need to refer to the previous stuff most read
from top to bottom. In English, certainly. And if you wish to interleave
points as I'm doing then there can only be one way of posting - ie old at
the top new at the bottom.

> Personally, I don't care if the Replies are top posted or bottom posted,
> as long as all Replies are the same in any given thread. I can follow
> the pattern, and if you can't then maybe Usenet is not a place you
> should be visiting.

Well, I've been around since it was a relatively slow and expensive
medium. And the entire world still doesn't get free fast connections.
The fact is MS chose to break the bottom posting convention with their
newsreader - and I've no real idea why. Other than like in so much not
really understanding or caring how their customers use things. It makes
sense to top post for personal emails - after all you can assume the
person reading it knows the previous content of your correspondence - and
including a copy is just a courtesy, or can be omitted anyway. News groups
ain't the same thing.

--
*Lottery: A tax on people who are bad at math.

Dave Plowman dave.DeleteThis@davenoise.co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.
 >> Stay informed about: Central locking problem / question 

Good grief! Surely there is something BMW-related we can argue about
instead of further beating the old, tired, long-dead horse about whether
top- or bottom-posting is best for Usenet. The Real Answer, tools-based
rendering in each user's preferred form, is not available.

One of the tragedies of civilization is that we can't all have it our
own way all the time. Unless you're willing to write the RFCs and build
the tools to solve the problem (I am not--I can live with things as they
are can care not which way you choose to post), please stop whining!

OK, back to sleep again.

--
JRE
 >> Stay informed about: Central locking problem / question 

I nominate..

Dean Dark wrote:

> QED.

Jeff for moderator.

NTTAWWT.

Top and bottom posted.
 >> Stay informed about: Central locking problem / question 

Nobody ...

"admin" <dopy DeleteThis @nodomain.com> wrote in message
news:g4dbpm$crn$2@news.monmouth.com...
>I nominate..
>
> Dean Dark wrote:
>
>> QED.
>
> Jeff for moderator.
>
> NTTAWWT.
>
> Top and bottom posted.


.... cares
 >> Stay informed about: Central locking problem / question