Adam Bailey wrote:
> Tim Wunder <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>> Adam Bailey wrote:
>>> herb zwirn <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>>>> Is there a way to make a request for return receipt automatic, e.g.
>>>> like spell checker ??
>>>
>>> Return receipts are largely useless over the Internet, don't waste your
>>> time with them.
>>
>> May I ask why you say this?
>
> You may ask.
>
>> I request a return receipt with all e-mail I send, it helps to know that
>> an e-mail gets delivered to a server. While true that undeliverable mail
>> gets returned as such, it's good to know the mail server actually gets
>> it. And, oftentimes, the recipient will send back a read receipt.
>
> There is no accepted standard for return receipts, so there's no guarantee
> they'll work. In fact, there are competing "standards." There's no
> standard behavior, so receiving a receipt doesn't always mean the same
> thing. Receipts are technical, not social, so receiving a receipt doesn't
> mean the *recipient* read the message. And, of course, not receiving a
> receipt doesn't mean the message wasn't received.
>
Yes, I understand that. But... if I have a contact whose server sends
receipts and I send an e-mail to him/her and I don't get a receipt, I know
something went wrong. I'll get receipts back that are read receipts and
display receipts. They're all useful to me, as an end user.
> Not to mention the bandwidth and privacy issues. It's all just a mess.
>
Bandwidth, I think, is a non-issue. How much bandwidth is a friggin' text
receipt? That compared with streaming audio and video is nothing. That
compared even to people who post on Usenet in HTML is nothing.
For those concerned with privacy, don't send receipts when they are
requested. This is basic functionality that's been included in Netscape 4.x
for as long as I've been using it. I doesn't seem unreasonable to expect
that sort of functionality in Mozilla, at least not to me.
