Re: Staying on topic and quoting
On Wed, Mar 11, 2009 at 02:07:07PM +0700, Steven Demetrius wrote:
>
> Staying on topic and quoting.
>
> One of the things that causes confusion is going off topic and improper
> quoting.
That's two things.
> Staying on topic makes the thread easy to follow and understand. We all
> go off topic now and then but we need to curb this as it makes the
> mailing list seem chaotic. If you find that you are going off topic may
> I suggest staring a new thread.
That's why there are sub threads.
> Improper quoting can also case confusion. A sentence quoted out of
> contexts can cause a lot of misunderstanding and as seen before a lot of
> arguments. Arguments as opposed to Discussions. If unsure then don't
> quote. This way the reader will have to look up the original message
> with the full text.
For a start, one man's argument is another man's discussion.
(Where man obviously refers to human.)
Also some people prefer a good argument to a poor discussion. :)
I would argue, (whhoops - sorry), that not leaving any of the original
text in place won't get many readers.
> Inline quoting can be very useful but I find it better suited for one on
> one mailing and does not work very well for mailing lists.
(That remark is so wrong that I'm starting to feel I've been trolled.)
Huh? You prefer to jump around in messages than read from top to bottom?
> Please keep in mind the purpose of the Debian user mailing list; A place
> for *Debian* users to interact and help each other, A place for
> discussions not arguments, a place where users look for advise from more
> knowledgeable users and assume the information presented is correct.
Also for future google searches. Although the trend seems to be post
here first then search the web.
Never assume -- you make an "ass" out of "u" and "me" (ass)(u)(me).
Seriously, if any advice helps, then great. Although no one appears to
give malicious advice (at least, on a technical level) you will
sometimes get incorrect information from an over zealous user.
--
Chris.
======
I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god
than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other
possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.
-- Stephen F Roberts
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