[Elecraft] RE:K7C - Let's keep this radio oriented

[Fabian Kurz]

Eric Swartz - WA6HHQ, Elecraft wrote:
> ALSO: Please edit out the majority of copied text on your replies
> to postings. 
> I'm seeing a lot of postings with a ton of unnecessary text that takes
> up a lot of room - especially for digest mode readers of the list.

A very good point! Not only removing the unneccessary parts of a
message you reply to is important, it is also very important NOT
to reply _atop_ the original message but _below_ it.
It's much easier to read the message when proper quiting was used,
even if one didn't follow the thread closely.

This following snippet from the Wikipedia article on this topic pretty
well illustrates the problem:

,----[ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top-posting ]--- 
| Because it messes up the flow of reading.
| > How come?
| > > I prefer to reply inline.
| > > > What do you do instead?
| > > > > No.
| > > > > > Do you like top-posting?
`---------------------------------------------------

The same with proper quoting:

,---------------------------------------------------
| > > > > > Do you like top-posting?
| > > > > No.
| > > > What do you do instead?
| > > I prefer to reply inline.
| > How come?
| Because it messes up the flow of reading.
`---------------------------------------------------

looks pretty fine and is easy to read!

When there are more than two people involved in the discussion (which
is always the case on a mailing list or an usenet newsgroup), it is
also recommended to use a proper attribution line above the quoted
text to see who wrote what, like 

,--------------------------------------------------- 
| John Doe wrote:
| > How do I quote properly?
| Like this! 
`---------------------------------------------------

There are numerous articles about proper quoting on the web, like the
Wikipedia article mentioned above, http://pub.tsn.dk/how-to-quote.php
and many more. 

Sorry if I sound like a smart ass, but taking the little extra time to
properly edit a message before sending it makes the mailing list
significantly easier and more comfortable to read!

73,
-- 
Fabian Kurz, DJ1YFK/AD5UR * Dresden, Germany * http://fkurz.net/
K2 #5054