Steven D'Aprano wrote:
> Top-
> posting (as hated in Linux/Unix circles as it is) is good for short
> replies that don't lead to a long extended discussion. But bottom-
> posting is awful: it has all the disadvantages of top-posting, with
> none of the advantages.

The whole point of quoting is to provide a frame of reference for the
reply. The most effective way to do that is in a conversational quote
precedes reply. The primary issue is selective VS mass/pointless
quoting. In many cases, quoting a single relevant block of text from
the parent post is plenty. It's too bad email clients don't work like
some forums where you can highlight/quote/reply to a selected block of
text.

...I have no idea of the specifics, but there are some email clients
where that option is/can be automatically enabled when message text is
highlighted prior to hitting reply, e.g. Thunderbird, Claws, OSX/iOS
Mail. It was briefly a Gmail feature, then a Labs option, now?. I'd
love to hear of others, I couldn't find any webmail clients with this
option (surprising considering javascript/bookmarklets).