I can not believe this is such a hot topic.
There is a recline function and I expect the person in front of me to recline at some point and I will recline also at some point. I don't expect the person in front to ask and I don't have eyes in the back of my head to see what's happening behind me. Although I do usually do the small partial reclines instead of one sudden one.
i didn't realise people get so worked up about it. It is just a part of flying. Although an experience I had years ago should have alerted me to the fact that reclining can be an issue. (Which is why I now use the slow recline method)
On an overnight flight a long time ago I had my daughter, about 10 at the time with her head asleep on my lap, I went to recline and it didn't go back, I thought it needed a nudge so I pushed back harder and the man behind me yelled at me for being an idiot and that as he was over 6 feet tall did I not realise he was deliberately preventing me from reclining, then he swore at me again. I pulled the blanket over my head and cried, later when I got a grip I made a point of biding my time and reclining all the way. Sorry not my problem he was tall and flying in Y on a low cost carrier at that. Of course the fact that he was incredibly rude to me made me not give a rats.
But seriously I had no clue there even was an "etiquette" and that I am suppose to check the height of the passenger travelling behind me or if they are intending to eat/use a laptop or check if they prefer me not to recline because it annoys them.
Nah bugger it while there is a recline option I will use it and expect everyone else to as well especially on an overnight or long haul flight.