[mythtv-users] Cover downloads from IMDB [OT]

[Allen Edwards]

On Sat, Sep 20, 2008 at 10:19 AM, Mike Perkins
<mikep at randomtraveller.org.uk> wrote:
> Allen Edwards wrote:
>>
>>> We'll - if we're complaining about off-topic stuff, I'd rather have a
>>> good, heavily utilized web forum than a mailing list... it'd solve
>>> almost all the issues (not trimming, top positing, etc).  But hey,
>>> that's just me. :)
>>>
>>> Matt
>>
>> I like top posting.  This is the only list I use that requires or uses
>> bottom posting.  So, which did you read first, the top post or the
>> bottom post?
>>
> Well, like most people I read the topmost stuff first, since it didn't have
> quote lines. I then had to scroll down and read the quoted part to see what
> you were replying to. Then I had to figure out how your reply fitted in with
> the quoted material.
>
> Whereas if you had left the quoted material at the top, I would have skimmed
> that and then known straight away how your comment related to that. OK?
>
> Now imagine that I had found an appropriate but top-posted email thread
> because I searched for $PROBLEM some 6 months afterwards. Your method, I
> have to start at *the bottom* and work my way up, reply by reply to find out
> how to fix my problem. With bottom posting, the material is all laid out
> logically.
>
> Bottom posting works fine, but only if all the cruft is taken out of the
> quoted material, like sigs and extracts from machine logs, etc (unless
> relevant to the reply).
>
> --
>
> Mike Perkins
>
>

The other side is that if you are following a thread then every time
you see a reply you need to scroll down through all the crap you
already know to get to the bottom to read the new stuff.  In addition,
with top posting, trimming is only important to minimize file size.
It is actually desirable to not have trimming so you can go back and
see the entire thread on one email.  With the way it is now, I have to
go and open older messaged in the thread to find out what was said,
which is a huge pain.  Without gmail and the way it bundles threads,
it would be near impossible.  With bottom posting, you have to trim or
it just takes ridiculous amounts of time to scroll down to the good
stuff.

So, two sides and probably just personal preference.

Allen