On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 22:45, Nilesh Govindarajan <lists@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Bottom posting helps in users who are not participating in the thread from
> the start and would like to do so.
Particularly for uniformity for archival purposes.
As has been discussed time and time again, there are many
preferences for top-versus-bottom. Those arguments are not without
merit, but the fact is that, for the lists operated by php.net, the
rules[1] clearly state that bottom-posting is the way to go. And the
biggest reason for this is not conformity with antiquated procedures,
but rather for uniformity and accessibility. It's a disaster when you
read through some newsgroups and archives, particularly for
non-English-native folks. It's no wonder we receive so many of the
same questions, especially from novices and newbies: why should you
need to learn how to navigate through a conversation to get a simple
answer when you can just bug the folks who can answer it for you
directly? The unfortunate side-effect with non-conformity to the
rules is that, then, folks who come here to ask questions are referred
to the archives and flamed for not doing so in the first place.
The fact is, that rule will not be changed. And it's not to take
away your right to democracy in the community, it's because it's a
very purposeful rule. Those who choose to ignore it, even knowing the
detrimental effects it has on present and future generations of
developers are unfortunately looking at things in a very short-sighted
manner. Yes, your words and assistance to the community today are
guaranteed to be read by another developer a decade or more from now.
Think about the great impact you're having beyond your own useful
years. That is not to say by any means that I think it's an
intentional short-sightedness, or that I consider anyone here to
personally be short-sighted, but when one puts personal preference
over the benefit of his or her peers in the community, that is
completely counter to the spirit of what we aim to accomplish here on
a daily basis --- indeed, counter to the very spirit of open source.
It's understandable that everyone has a preference for positioning
within Internet messages. This is because you have a choice.
Thinking of instant messaging clients, you likely don't even consider
the confusion that would result if there were a choice of where your
message would be posted there. Why? Because you're reading the
messages as they stream in, in real-time, without [much] delay. The
same is true in archives; there is no hours-long - even days-long -
delay between messages. Click a link or scroll down the page and,
unless you're cursed with a 2400bps Commodore 64 connection, it's a
matter of seconds or microseconds before the next message is
displayed. The time to decipher where the discussion begins anew in
the latest message can sometimes take longer --- especially for those
who fail to trim out unnecessary and repetitive information, and
doubly for those who quote improperly and begin their reply after the
final carat of the previous message (this is happening frequently
between this thread and the one that spawned it).
Choice is great. If it weren't for choices, you wouldn't be here.
If, in fact, you were physically here and all choices leading up to
your choice of programming language were still in line, there's a
very, very, very likely chance that you wouldn't have chosen PHP, and
would thus not be participating in this thread. The reason behind
that is the sheer number of competing languages. The difference is
that, at least for the time being, you *prefer* PHP, and have made the
*choice* to utilize it. Further, you *chose* to become part of the
group. You weren't drafted against your will.
As such, you *choose* to adhere to the rules set forth if for no
other reason than common courtesy, and professional and mutual
respect. It matters nil if you respect the individual or the rule
itself, but you understand that you're part of something that is far
bigger than you. In all honesty, that alone should humble folks
enough to agree to abide by the rules: the fact that, long after you
have ceased to participate within the community for one reason or
other, your words and wisdom will teach thousands of people of whom
you'll never even be aware.... yet they will be aware of you, and will
be appreciative of your contributions. You are all teachers, every
single one of you, regardless of whether or not you choose yet to
accept that, or how seriously you take the role.
The bottom line is that, not only is it the preference of the
majority, the accepted manner for the majority of those who remain,
and the rule of this list, it is just good, common courtesy. For
those who use a mail client such as Outlook Express or a derivative,
clone, or competing client, keep in mind that the very first Internet
messages sent on ARPANET, et al, were sent top-to-bottom. It's only
in the last decade that things have been formatted in such a way with
particular software that the presentation became easier - thus
preferential - to top-post.
Is it worth continuing the argument? Probably not. I'm sure we
all - well, okay, we MOSTLY - have better ways to spend our time.
Will the argument continue, and then be reborn again and again?
That's a guarantee. A more futile endeavor would be to try to quell
it from continuing.
However, keeping in mind that your role as a mentor here does come
with some responsibilities you may or may not like (and believe me,
there are many of which we could commiserate --- feel free to start a
thread on that as well), perhaps the best option is simply to say, "I
HATE it this way, but I understand that it really does benefit others,
so I can suck it up (and bitch about it now and again to remind folks
that I hate it)." It's small sacrifices, even when it barely impacts
the sacrificer, that keep morale high in a group and add to the
respect you receive from your peers. Whether or not one actively
strives to earn the respect of others doesn't impact the rewarding
feeling they receive when they realize that they have, in fact, earned
such.
--
</Daniel P. Brown>
daniel.brown@xxxxxxxxxxxx || danbrown@xxxxxxx
http://www.parasane.net/ || http://www.pilotpig.net/
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