Alright, so you recommend sliding the index finger around instead of stretching the hand out to do every note on the string. That would be pratical advice to a beginner or one with small hands, but I'm more than comfortable stretching between the 5th fret and the 10th.

for example:

|
|
|
|----------------------------8
|--------------7--10--12--
|--5--8--10

(I,R,P for each run)

I was under the impression that a 4 note per string riff entails a different finger for every note - in which case only the 5--7--8--10 pattern is possible because of the inability to stretch between the M and R fingers. I don't think I'm going to use the slide technique you've shown only becuase I foresee sloppiness. You can't slide your arm up as fast as you can put a single finger down on the fretboard. There's so many patterns available for a single scale that if one poses a limitation in the riff you want to play, you just switch to another.