Re: Gmail and quotes

[Janek Warchoł]

Hi,

What we actually want here on lilypond mailing lists is not literally
bottom-posting, but inline-replying:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posting_style#Interleaved_style (yes,
some people indeed use "bottom posting" to refer to "inline replying",
but this is ambiguous and therefore not helpful. I'm looking at you,
David).

In general, each of the three quoting styles (top-, bottom- and
inline-posting) has its own merits, and they should be chosen
consciously depending on situation:

* Top-posting may be good when one is replying with some general
thoughts, which are only loosely related to the previous message(s).
In other words, one can use top-posting whenever the reader doesn't
have to know what was in the previous message; the quote serves just
as an appendix "for the curious".

* On the other hand we have inline posting, which is *indispensable*
on technical mailing lists, because in technical _discussions_ - like
the ones we have on lilypond - it is important to answer precisely to
the words of the interlocutor (and not to some general impression his
message made on you).  And usually each message contains many
statements or questions, and they have to be addressed separately.

You may also want to read more of that Wikipedia article, it discusses
this topic in detail.

2013/11/14 David Kastrup <address@hidden>:
> Everything is archived anyway.  Don't turn the mail messages into
> archives of previous messages: that's not what they are for.

+1.  That's why _literal_ bottom-posting doesn't make sense when the
mailing list is archived.

(this email is an example of inline posting combined with top-posting.
 Firstly i've given my opinion on the matter, and since it wasn't
related to any particular previous message, it was on top.  Then i
wrote somethig that was strictly related to a _part_ of someone else's
message, and so i quoted that part and replied under it).

i hope this will clarify things.  Maybe we should add this to some
kind of FAQ, because it's not the first time this topic appears.

best,
Janek