[FFmpeg-user] top posting issue

[Nicolas George]

Le sextidi 16 pluviôse, an CCXXIV, Roman a écrit :
> I've seen many times people asking/forcing not to top-post to the list...
> So here I've got a question.. Why ?

I will answer to you with a question: when you watch an episode of a TV
series, does it:

A. start with short excerpts of the previous episodes, to remind you what
   happened last weeks;

B. end with a full rerun of the previous episode (which itself ends in a
   full rerun of the previous one, recursively)?

You have to realize that while people who ask questions usually read only a
few of the mail on the mailing-lists and follow only the thread about their
own issue, people who answer the question, on the other hand, follow several
threads on this mailing list and others. They need to have a reminder of
what this is about, before they start reading the new stuff.

>				      Most of programs, including gmail app
> and gmail web come with top posting by default and this is the way all

These programs are the result of a negative feedback loop: first, uneducated
users started replying on top of the quote without thinking, then programs
for these uneducated users started having features to make that easier to
handle.

>				Why the hell one should scroll down to see
> the last post if it is very ok to see the last post on the top of incming
> e-mail.

You do not have to do that. The best way of replying to a mail is not to
reply on the bottom of the full quote either. The correct way is to trim the
quote so that it has just enough context. Just like I did in this very mail.

Regards,

-- 
  Nicolas George
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