> -----Original Message----- > From: TG [mailto:tg-php@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] > Sent: Monday, October 13, 2008 11:44 AM > To: php-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > Subject: Re: Top/bottom posting holy war *cringe* (was: New to > PHP) > > I concede only that the PHP list has a requested style (bottom > posting). I > disagree on it's usefulness OVER top posting. > > I'm perfectly able to read top or bottom posted messages with nearly > equal > fluidity. I find top posting to be more fluid and useful. I've never > quite sure why this becomes a holy war. Why can't some people do it > one > way and others do it the other way? It's nice when everyone does it > the > same way, but with the indenting/prefixing lines of replies, it's easy > enough to see what the last message was that the current top or bottom > posted reply goes to. > > Because this is such a hot button issue, I cringed when I saw it > brought up > as a response to a new member saying "Hi" and looking for PHP coding > recommendations because it always leads to these discussions. No good > can > come of even discussing it or bringing it up except to show people who > aren't aware, that there IS a choice in the matter. So.. you concede to ignore the requested style, then? As for near-equal fluidity.. I don't believe you. Plainly and simply, I do not believe your claim. That is, of course, unless you've been reading bottom-to-top since you were a child in some bizarre psychology experiment placed on your shoulders by your parents... It boils down to this: if you've been participating in the discussion adamantly, then yes--top posting probably won't throw you off. However, for people who are jumping in the middle (perhaps they saw a keyword related to something they are working on, or they just joined the list, etc.) it can become quite confusing. This is a mailing list. On top of that (no pun intended), it is a public mailing list. As such, there will be many individuals reading conversations without having been around for the start of them. More confusing still is the "some do it this way, some do it that way" proposal you have issued. When messages are replied to using both conventions, the flow of the conversation looks like a seismic gauge during an earthquake. Todd Boyd Web Programmer -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
