On Mon, Dec 19, 2005 at 12:08:14AM +0000, Stephen Gran wrote:
> I'm glad you have your opinion. The opinions of those who admin the
> list happen to coincide with mine, and we both disagree with you. You
> don't mind if we don't give out free support when you deliberately
> contravene the policy of the list, right? Then no problem - post
> however you like.
> I can't speak for others on this list, but I get hundreds or thousands
> of emails a day to wade through, and frankly top-posting to mailing
> lists and silly banners just makes me hit the delete key before even
> reading the email. Sorry if that upsets you, but it significantly
> improves the signal to noise ratio in my email experience.
It doesn't upset me at all. :-)
What upsets me, is when, on mailing lists everywhere, a few people
turn 'top post' instances into flame wars. Is it really that hard to
ignore it? Do people really need to be flamed for something so minor?
Is putting people in their place over this, so important to you? Does
it make you feel good, when you put somebody down for daring to post
incorrectly?
I 'wade through' hundreds of emails a day as well, and it just isn't
a problem. Other anal claims include 'Cc:'ing posters, and signature
length.
The comment about "free support" is uncalled for. We're all in this
together. I don't have a special place in my heart for contributors
that consider themselves too important to deal with those less
perfect than themselves with regard to posting style. If this was
a real company, and you were servicing a real support contract,
would you ever act so arrogant and unforgiving? I'd hope not.
Why should "free" be any different? Does professionalism only
matter when you are paid?
What I hear from you, is that you like your user support forums to
contain flame wars over 'top posting' instead of actual content.
What? You said signal to noise ratio? Of the dozens of mailing lists
that I'm part of, the numbers of 'top posting' rants has been
significant enough to annoy me more than the people who actually
top post.
Users shouldn't be so abused. Members of the community shouldn't be
abused. It's highly offensive, and discouraging.
If you find this post of mine offensive, and discouraging, I'll
agree with you. What does it feel like? Do you like it?
Cheers,
mark
--
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and in the darkness bind them...
http://mark.mielke.cc/
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