[PLUG] E-mail etiquette: why MS users don't have it

[Ian Burrell]

Rich Shepard wrote:
>   Perhaps those of you who administer mixed-OS environments can answer this
> question: Why do winduhs users top-post their responses to messages and
> leave the entire message to which they are replying on the bottom?
> 
>   I send my responses back with each comment following the appropriate chunk
> of quoted text. But, they never seem to get a clue. Is this because that's
> the only way -- or the default -- for Lookout! and Lookout Faster and no one
> tries to do anything different?
> 

For one thing, it is the default for Microsoft Outlook to start entering 
text at the top of the message.  It also ignores any issues with 
maintaining attributions, forwarded headers, and stripping signatures. 
Not to mention the fun that happens with HTML messages and forwarded 
messages.

I also think it is a difference in culture.  Business culture leans 
toward maintaing the whole conversation.  This is for the benefit of 
anyone who joins later or needs their butt covered.  The technical 
culture is to bottom-post and trim quotes.  What would be nice is some 
mechanism to maintain references to earlier messages and reserve quoting 
for addressing a point.

  - Ian

-- 
ian at znark.com
http://www.znark.com/