Date: Sat, 14 May 2005 17:16:36 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Keith F. Lynch" <kfl at KeithLynch.net>
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Away, away...
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>

Top vs. bottom posting isn't as important as overquoting.  Does
your application allow you to trim everything not essential for
establishing context?  If not, I suggest not using the reply function
at all, but starting a new message.  Can you cut-and-paste between
applications, and hence quote text that way?

Often it's not necessary to quote *anything*.  Think of this list as
an online fanzine.  How often does a letter of comment quote large
chunks of whatever it's in reply to?

Strunk said "A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a
paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing
should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts."

He could have gone on to say that a message should quote no
unnecessary paragraphs.