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top-posting and Re: signature at the beginning, not the end



> Ok, I can see how its preferable to edit and reply at the bottom for
> mailing lists.  I'm going to keep that in mind from now on.  :)
> 
> Jeopardy-style, answer-first is not always bad for other types of 
> correspondences.

This is fair.  You said before that it seems like a matter of
preference.  I can agree somewhat, but it's really more a matter of
general convenience to the _reader_, rather than to the _author_.
Whether I'm posting to a conventional list or to an individual or
small group, I try to anticipate the situation and post accordingly.
(Sometimes top-posting makes most sense.)  But obviously, the more
people might be reading your message, the more you lose the ability to
anticipate what works best for the reader. :)

I'd like to think that's why it's called 'netiquette', btw: not because
it's a strict behavioral convention, but because its goal is to honor
the recipient's interests above one's own.

I usually find that top-posting is only suitable for very concise
answers to questions, or "me too" type stuff.  If the reader is likely
not to know what I'm talking about at a glance, it's better to trim
context and tail-post.  But I suppose there are probably exceptions, and
I'm allowed some error in judgment. :)  And sometimes I find it best to
put text both before and after the quoted material.

 *

As for your original question, because I sometimes top-post and usually
do not, I don't normally use mutt for attaching my signature at all.
Instead I have an editor macro to insert it at the current cursor line.
Mutt inserts my signature automatically at bottom, but I usually end up
deleting it and re-adding it during the course of trimming context.

-- 
 -D.    dgc@xxxxxxxxxxxx    NSIT    University of Chicago