From: fburton@... (Francis Burton)
Date: 2008-05-28T01:59:30+09:00
Subject: Re: Top-posting

In article <9A43A375-01EE-41DE-B137-70AF3EABDE54@mwilden.com>,
Mark Wilden  <mark@mwilden.com> wrote:
>You're missing my point. No one would plead for top posting. What I  
>was referring to is the anti-toppers who tell people that bottom- 
>posting is the standard. It's not, as any casual observance of Usenet  
>posts would tell you.

What proportion of posts (or posters) are top-posting? Less than
10%, I am sure, and probably less than 5%. By this measure at
least, top-posting is non-standard.

>> I have however very
>> often seen people asking kindly or humorously to bottom post.
>
>I actually haven't seen many kindly requests and I've certainly never  
>seen a humorous request. Generally, the message is "Why are you top- 
>posting?" which implies that it's not even necessary to explain why  
>that's so terrible. (This is basically the original meaning of the  
>phrase "begging the question.")

Most responses are rather curt, I agree.

>I don't know of anyone who prefers top-posting.
>
>Here are my preferences (and I don't generally ask people to follow  
>them):
>
>1. Don't quote when it's not necessary. Most of the time, a very short  
>quote suffices.

Agreed.
>
>2. If you're replying to individual points, then put your responses  
>with each point.

With meaning below, presumably.

>3. Otherwise, I couldn't care less what you do. :)

Or you could care less. :-)

Francis