CWLee wrote:

"Bob M." wrote

Bottom posting is preferred, ...

Many people do prefer bottom posting, and many also prefer top posting.

I think bottom posting works best for those who join a discussion late
in the discussion, after several postings, since reading in the normal
manner (top to bottom) gives the chronological sequence of questions,
answers, comments, etc. I think top posting works best for those
actively following a thread from the beginning, since the latest
response is read first, and one doesn't have to wade through all the
previously provided material.

My preference (which happens rarely) is for each poster to edit the
post, leaving out irrelevant material, and interweaving his comments
within the post, adjacent to the individual points the previous
poster(s) made.

I don't think anyone is going to change his approach, but maybe if the
pros and cons of all methods are understood there will be less rudeness
here and in other newsgroups.

My personal preference would be for top posting, the way e-mail threads
end up looking like when nobody trims when they answer. Got used to that
from the old green-screen days. (and pre-GUI, with a slow dialup, you
could skip to the next message quicker.) But after getting beaten about
the head and shoulders several times about it, I bowed the majority and
forced myself to get used to bottom posting. Exception, as others have
noted, for going in-line in long complex replies.

--
aem sends...

On Sun, 13 Sep 2009 18:24:14 -0600, "Bob M." wrote:

"Jack Stein" wrote in message
...
Jason Carlton wrote:

While we're on the subject of policies, though, is the preferred
method of reply for this NG to top post, bottom post, or post within
the original?

Yes. All are appropriate at different times. You should be smart enough
to figure out when to do what.

Much more difficult it seems is what to quote. You should delete
everything except what is essential to your reply. There is seldom a
reason to quote an entire message, usually just a few sentences, as I just
did here. If you edit/delete correctly it is usually really clear

Bottom posting is preferred, "top posting" is also referred to as "Jeopardy!
posting" since the answer comes before the question.

Laziness is usually why people don't trim the quote in a response.

Bottom or top - both are easy enough to deal with as long as there is
proper and judicious trimming.

Leave enough of the previous post to gove context to what you are
saying.

Phisherman wrote:
On Sun, 13 Sep 2009 00:28:03 -0400, Tony
wrote:

Higgs Boson wrote:
For years I used Forte Agent, but then they dropped access to
NGs unless one paid a (small) fee.

I did for a while, but my NG usage is so very small and limited
that I find it easier just to use Google Groups rather than to
sign up for what you call a "real newsreader".
I pay about $10/year for my newsgroups, but I don't get any binaries.
For 10 bucks a year it's well worth not having to deal with a web based
news reader/server.


You don't need to pay for non-binary newsgroups. I would think most
folks would opt for one less billing.

I had trouble with a few different free news servers so I took someones
advice and pay $10 for one that seems to always work.