Path: news.mathworks.com!not-for-mail
From: "Steven Lord" <slord@mathworks.com>
Newsgroups: comp.soft-sys.matlab
Subject: Re: etiquette (top-posting or bottom posting)
Date: Wed, 5 Sep 2007 10:03:35 -0400
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"Dan Hensley" <somewhere@over.there> wrote in message 
news:1bWdnQoblpLxh0PbnZ2dnUVZ_s_inZ2d@comcast.com...
> G.A.M. wrote:
>> Do people here prefer top-posting or bottom posting? (See
>> definition below.) I usually use top-posting, but I see a
>> lot of people here using bottom posting.

I prefer mid-posting/interleaved, as I think of newsgroup postings as sort 
of a Q&A session.  You ask, I answer, and we alternate.

>> Also, what's the group's consensus on quoting the original
>> post? Should we snip it down to the minimum or keep it all?

Keep the relevant pieces.  The attributions for anybody whose text you're 
quoting are all "relevant pieces", in my opinion.  If I'd snipped all of 
your message or all of Dan's, I'd _consider_ snipping that portion of the 
attribution, but usually I only do that when I'm replying to a reply that's 
several layers deep and if I'm replying specifically to one of the later 
comments.  *snip* the rest of the text to show that you've removed 
something -- otherwise it can get tricky to figure out who said what and 
comments can get taken out of context.

> I prefer interleaving, and I try to leave some whitespace between quoted 
> blocks and my text to make it easier to read.

Agreed.

> Top-posting is evil, and so is bottom-posting if you don't trim the 
> quotes.  Here is the newsgroup netiquette:
>
> http://www.faqs.org/faqs/comics/xbooks/readpost/section-4.html
> http://www.faqs.org/docs/jargon/T/top-post.html

My favorite example of why  I don't top-post:


Because who wants to read the punch-line before the rest of the joke?
Why is top-posting not a good idea?


Usenet is not Jeopardy :)

-- 
Steve Lord
slord@mathworks.com