On 16 June 2014 12:55, Chris McSweeny wrote: > On Mon, Jun 16, 2014 at 1:24 AM, RussellMc wrote: > > Anyone entering the lists in this tournament should first have read > through > > the thread: > > "[OT] Top posting and the list" in April 2011. > > What do you think, Russell? > Vanity, vanity, all is vanity and vexation of spirit ... :-). As I may have conveyed, I think people have quite disparate views, any one approach cannot wholly address all requirements, and each have their merits= .. Of the historical comments referenced above, I lean more toward Olin's point of view (with suitable excision of terms like "your mommy") than the opposite BUT found Herbert's exposition useful. In the last 6.5 years or so under a single overlying theme I have been involved in an immense 'information' interchange between a very substantial and slowly changing body of people, with multiple threads and sub threads therein and branches and more. Within that system top posting occurs as of right and is unquestioned, nobody trims anything. This is close to the Herbert model and for much the same reasons and within that context it is almost certainly the "correct way to do things". Within the context of this list and similar I think the Olin model is far closer to "correct"*, albeit not perfect and exceptions used intelligently can be useful. * I can say with absolute certainty that some disagree on this point :-). If the above sounds like fence sitting you probably haven't read the historical homework :-) Russell --=20 http://www.piclist.com/techref/piclist PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .