On Sep 26, 10:27am, Robert.Wultsch@asu.edu wrote:

> I do not understand the issue with top posting, in fact I usally can
> not stand when I have to look to find the meat of the message, not
> to say that I do not understand why people want others not to top
> post.

These are actually separate (though related) issues.

With regard to top posting, there are some situations where it is
perfectly appropriate, e.g, when you are forwarding something to
someone and want to add a note of your own to the top.  IMO, it's
also better to top post when you've added a few other people to the
CC line and you want as much context as possible left intact.

Posting a reply to a mailing list is (usually) a different story.  You
should expect those reading the list to have access to previous
postings thus making it unnecessary to quote a message in its
entirety.  When posting a reply, you should, IMO, only quote the
relevant parts to which you are replying.  In particular, you can trim
salutations, signatures, and irrelevant ramblings.  If you leave
enough context, an interested reader can go back to a previous post or
visit the list archives to see what came before.  Those reading your
reply won't have a problem finding the "meat" of your message because
all of the excess "fat" has been trimmed away.

Kevin

P.S. I apologize if my previous response seemed overly harsh.