On Mon, Jan 13, 2025 at 05:30:19PM -0700, Charles Curley wrote:

> Many list servers serve up their archives with subject line and other
> information but not the body. By modifying the subject appropriately one
> makes it possible for a reader to quickly scan the subject, making
> reading the entire thread unnecessary, thereby improving usability of
> the archive.

It is not just the Subject: but also the In-Reply-To: and References: headers.
A good MUA (mail reader) will use these to deduce what is in reply to what and
have the ability to show an email 'thread'. I use mutt which does this.

For instance the email that I am replying to has the following headers:

In-Reply-To: <0e3e9efd-410d-4f63-9ddf-5dc1656f8...@busby.net>
References: <Z4UiQnQqvtWHX5pZ@q957>
        <z4uoevn0kwoa9...@tuxteam.de>
        <3jrf5l-55uu....@q957.zbmc.eu>
        <20250113113710.55158b0a@hawk.localdomain>
        <v97g5l-h43v....@q957.zbmc.eu>
        <20250113201431.gf27...@wooledge.org>
        <pmeg5l-4n6v....@q957.zbmc.eu>
        <20250113161313.62a7697b@hawk.localdomain>
        <cah8yc8kavpkexoddrhsmb9cbpmeufpk7xqgwwtfyt+gb3vu...@mail.gmail.com>
        <0e3e9efd-410d-4f63-9ddf-5dc1656f8...@busby.net>


> Does anybody read signatures any more?

Yes!

-- 
Alain Williams
Linux/GNU Consultant - Mail systems, Web sites, Networking, Programmer, IT 
Lecturer.
+44 (0) 787 668 0256  https://www.phcomp.co.uk/
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