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Posting-Version: version B 2.10    5/3/83; site cornell.UUCP
Path: utzoo!linus!wivax!decvax!harpo!floyd!vax135!cornell!ddw
From: ddw@cornell.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.flame
Subject: Quoting Previous Articles
Message-ID: <4730@cornell.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 29-Jun-83 12:57:49 EDT
Article-I.D.: cornell.4730
Posted: Wed Jun 29 12:57:49 1983
Date-Received: Thu, 30-Jun-83 02:44:17 EDT
Sender: ddw@cornell.UUCP
Organization: Cornell Computer Science
Lines: 40

From: ddw (David Wright)
To: net-flame

First off, I am in favor of quoting previous articles when you are
referring to them.  Only someone with a truly extraordinary memory
does not need this aid when reading a response to an article that
appeared weeks ago.

*** FLAME ON ***

HOWEVER, the methods of quoting used over this net range from good to
awful.  I reserve particular contempt for people who simply insert the
(left justified) text into their responses, with no breaks or indications
of where the quotation leaves off.  Next up on the scale are the people
who block off the quoted material with lines of asterisks.  This still
requires me to keep count of lines so I know which is which.  The problem
is reduced slightly by people who precede the opening line of *'s with
a blank and have the quoted text start immediately after (no blank line),
reversing this at the end.  This still requires me to remember what
convention is being used, however.

Somewhat more acceptable is the practice of starting each quoted line
with a '>'.  Unfortunately, it looks kinda ugly.

Look, people, what's wrong with indenting your damn quotations?!  Anyone
with a half-decent screen editor has no excuse, and even if you don't
have such an editor, you can always run the offending article through nroff
with a few spaces of extra indent.  Indentation is after all the standard
method of quoting blocks of material in printed articles.

*** FLAME OFF ***

By the way, "quote" is a verb and "quotation" is a noun.  I also hate
people who can't spell.
                                                         
                                 David Wright

                                 {vax135|decvax|ihnss}!cornell!ddw
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                                 ddw@cornell