From: plowboy@THRWHITE.remove-dii-this   
      
     To: alt.battlestar-galactica   
   Lookit, the top posting debate is almost like the United States civil war,   
   TOP post bitching about nettiquette is as bulshit as why railroad tracks are   
   something like "exactly 4ft" apart, it is a fact that this is simply because   
   the back in the roman days, the kings coach had it's wheels 4ft apart and he   
   hated it when someone built theirs 3 or 5ft apart, and it rained and screwed   
   up the roads, so without merit as to about which way is better or nothing,   
   he anointed all things have wheels this far apart.   
      
   before the WWW, the internet, yes it existed for many years, almost all   
   communications on it was ASCII (text) and on (sorry definitely not anything   
   even remotely windows or Microsoft).  But the Internet has no RULE, it is   
   whatever where ever, porn information spam and well yeah, we like some   
   decorum, but look at the muckheap trolling with crap like bitching about   
   crap I dont want to hear .  this is why it is anarchy, this is why you   
   waste your time preaching about RULES, there is no King or ruler of the   
   internet, there is ONLY common thoughts and procedures, sometimes called Net   
   Etiquette (netiquette)   
      
   Ignore the etiquette argument please, just long enough to see why it was   
   adopted in the 1st place, sort of like allowing slaves, it might just be out   
   of date...   
      
   My 1st internet usage was circa, 1986,@ my College. using Unix, & VM   
   machines. In the days long ago, it was the programs that were written that   
   pretty much forced bottom posting, mainly because the text was copied by the   
   text-email programs into the newly open output device (your screen) as well   
   as the message file From Beginning to end, which BTW is displayed TOP TO   
   BOTTOM.   
      
   The CURSOR always filled in the screen from the top, & your cursor (edit   
   point) was left at the bottom, (eventually even more advance programs put a   
   character like < in front of each line) but it all was filled from top to   
   bottom.  NOW THEN, I, we, you, them, all could have TOP posted back then,   
   but we all would have had to somehow, depending on the program I typed  move   
   my cursor to the beginning of the file, screen and message (it is unlikely,   
   that was even possible as a regular user).   
      
   Now I tell you nix and VM machines were  quirky, (for those who didn't grow   
   up or have any experience with OS's like DOS or command line UNIX and   
   others, you just have to try  it to see how it was...  Anyway, people who   
   used them adopted a rational of thinking, they were not going to waste their   
   time moving the cursor to the top (beginning) in a reply. Again some   
   programs it was nearly impossible, if not damn difficult to get it up there   
   without wiping out all the text you were replying to. PLUS, it wasted time   
   and energy, which the 'internet' was about saving.   
      
   So damn, now that you see I would have to waste time and energy to move my   
   cursor to the end, all because Bill Gates wanted to do it his way, not the   
   "established" way.  forgive the rest of us for doing things in the exact   
   same SPIRIT that the early users did, don't waste time moving the cursor !!!   
      
    =  (very big grin)   
      
   But the programs nowdays open a reply fill out all existing text, and place   
   my cursor at the top.   
   Earl Grieda enlightened us with:   
   > "David Chapman"  wrote in message   
   > news:W7idnQolCLqqMtjeRVnytw@pipex.net...   
   >> From the Collected Witterings of Hunter, volume 23:   
   >>> where wrote:   
   >>>> What are you going to do, killfile me?  Oh well.  I do agree that   
   >>>> conversations do frequently get out of control here.   
   >>> ---   
   >>> The reason people don't like top posting is that it ruins the   
   >>> natural flow of the thread quotes from oldest to the most recent.   
   >>> It also screws up people ability to edit and snip and still follow   
   >>> the flow of the thread quotes. So it is good form to keep your   
   >>> response at the bottom under the reply you are responding to.   
   >>   
   >> Or to put it another way:   
   >>   
   >> It breaks the flow of conversation.   
   >> Why?   
   >> Because top-posting is bad.   
   >> What's the fuss about top-posting?   
   >   
   > One reason is because for long threads it is hard to figure out just   
   > what is being replied to.  It isn't that big a deal if the top-posted   
   > reply is just to short post.   
      
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