Re: Hijack!

-----Original Message-----
From: pgsql-general-owner@postgresql.org on behalf of Joshua D. Drake
Sent: Tue 12/11/2007 9:43 AM
To: rod@iol.ie
Cc: pgsql-general@postgresql.org
Subject: Re: [GENERAL] Hijack!

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On Tue, 11 Dec 2007 16:31:40 +0000
"Raymond O'Donnell" <rod@iol.ie> wrote:

> > // >>>>
> > Please note in particular the following points of netiquette:
> >
> > * Don't top-post, as it makes for confusing reading.
> >
> > * Don't start a new thread by replying to an old one, because [insert
> > suitable technical explanation here].
> >
> > Failure to observe the above may result in your question going
> > unanswered. // <<<<<
>
>
> O.k. this might be a bit snooty but frankly it is almost 2008. If you
> are still a top poster, you obviously don't care about the people's
> content that you are replying to, to have enough wits to not top post.
>
> However, I would also note that in "windows" world, it is very common
> to top post. I am constantly retraining very smart, just very ignorant
> customers.

* Not all mail clients deal well with inline/bottom quoting (manually added "> " to lines here since my mail reader does not do so automatically -- imagine doing so for a complex quote!)

* Top posting is very common in companies with lots of blackberry (etc) users since they seem to see only tops easily.

* my mail client *always* starts at the top of the message. For rapid/internal mails top posting works better because the answer/most recent is always at the top. Complex messages do deserve in-posting but not always easy, especially if you have to do it manually). Does your mail browser always start at the bottom ? I always see the top of a message first. Simple threads work very well this way -- complicated ones collapse under top-posting.

* a lot of us have to use what ever the company provides as mail server. Exchange sucks but I'd rather not quit my job just because _you_ have a problem reading mail that does not conform to the "T" to your expectations. And there is a limit to how much time I want to spend manually formatting your mail to respond to it. Note that a lot of postGIS mail list posts are top-posted and the complaint rate is vanishingly small. Yet somehow business clanks on. Imagine that! And I can't even use exchange/outlook -- web interface to Micro$soft really sucks.

* Try to see the world from a perspective other that your own (admittedly superior) one ! Not everyone is so advanced.

* Get a life -- how people post is _trivial_. *content* over *form* ! Beating dead horses is of no interest other than the inherent joy in the thing. Deal with the fact that an open mail ist will have users from *all* backgrounds and origins and it you can't make everything a fight. Pick the most important battles. Top-posting is not the worst sin. (not reading the manuals is the by the worst transgression, IMHO).


And for those who really care, email etiquette in painful detail here <http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1855>. Hijacking seems to be more of a Bozo No-No than top posting. Or maybe that's just me.


Greg Williamson
Senior DBA
GlobeXplorer LLC, a DigitalGlobe company

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