On Wed, 2 Sep 2009 21:51:24 +0000 (UTC), J G Miller
wrote:

On Wed, 02 Sep 2009 22:16:09 +0100, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:

It is the normal convention on usenet to quote some of the posting to
which one is replying, so that anyone joining the thread can get some
idea of what you're on about.

Yes no contention there, but the point was -- which is the lesser of the
two evils if snipping is not practical

I'm sure the impractibility of snipping is rare. I agree with JPG. I
know blind users have special needs, but I far prefer bottom posting.
If it is a long post then use your keys to go to the end and then up a
bit to get the newest bit.

Interleaving, which is probably the best idea for sighted users in
some cases, does make things difficult, but otherwise standard usenet
standards are fine.