George Neuner <gneuner2@comcast.net> writes:
> On Sat, 17 Feb 2018 07:23:32 +1100, Tim Cross <theophilusx@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>> Thomas Kellerer <spam_eater@gmx.net> writes:
>>> Plus: trimming the original content, so that not the whole email
>>> thread is repeated in the quote.
>> While I'm happy to comply, I disagree with trimming/editing the
>> thread.
> The problem is that conversations rarely remained confined to a single
> topic [this thread for example 8-)].
> The list servers do have message size limits (independent of any email
> server limits).
I don't think this rule is about any technical limits. It's about having
minimal courtesy to your readers by not forcing them to re-read stuff they
just read. There are hundreds or thousands of people reading this list;
if you take thirty seconds to save each reader a third of a second, it's
a good tradeoff. If you won't spend that time, you're being discourteous.
Personally, if I get two or three screenfuls down into a message without
seeing a single line of new content, I stop reading.
Conversely, if you figure you can avoid spending any of your precious time
in quote-clipping by top-posting a couple of lines of commentary, you're
also being discourteous to readers who may come across your post sometime
later, who won't have just seen the whole thread. They won't know what it
is you're responding to, and you shouldn't make them dig through the
entire thread history in order to figure out what your one or two
sentences are in response to.
Gmail have done their level best to destroy email in general, and mailing
lists in particular, as a useful communication medium. Don't help them
out by being a jerk about your quoting habits.
regards, tom lane