From: Bill Kelly <billk@...>
Date: 2008-05-28T04:58:31+09:00
Subject: Re: Top-posting  (was: Re: documentation for ruby?)


From: "Mark Wilden" <mark@mwilden.com>
>
> I've been doing this stuff since 1984. It's only been relatively  
> recently that I've seen the insistence that bottoming is the "one true  
> way" and the attempted intimidation of anyone who doesn't agree.

Odd... I've been on Usenet since 1986, but my recollection is
somewhat the opposite.

Seems to me bottom-posted inter-quoting was a well-established
standard on the groups I read back then (comp.sys.amiga, other
programming groups).

If memory serves, the occasional newbie top-post would be met 
with references to "netiquette", and requests to not only bottom-
post instead, but also trim for context.

My recollection is top-posting was actively discouraged, but 
overall relatively rare until the advent of AOL, Netscape, and
SLIP/PPP connections which opened the floodgates, allowing
residential users onto the Internet by the millions. . . . 

Unleashing an army of newbies armed with news and email software,
which, as has already been mentioned elsewhere on this thread,
encouraged top-posting by default. . . 


> Quotes should be trimmed. :)

Agreed 100%  :)


Regards,

Bill