On Wed, Feb 27, 2013 at 03:13:43PM -0500, Patrick Shanahan wrote: > * Derek Martin <inva...@pizzashack.org> [02-27-13 13:56]: > > On Sat, Feb 23, 2013 at 08:00:24AM -0500, Patrick Shanahan wrote: > [...] > > > Responding to "list" mail *should* be to the "list" unless op has > > > *specifically* requested direct mail. All other action is illogical > > > and inefficient. > > > > Here's where I disagree. There have been many, many times when I > > wanted to send a private reply to a mailing list post. Usually it's > > because I have a remark that's not related to the post, per se. > > Neither the mailing list software, nor my client software, should get > > in the way of me replying however I damn well feel like replying. > > While you disagree with my "general" and "incomplete" statement, I do > agree with you that there are times when a private reply is prudent
Fair enough, but I'll just say that I make the distinction because there exist such people that believe that policy should be enforced, and specifically FORCED, by adding a reply-to header that points back to mailing lists (as you well know). I don't normally like to make unequivocal statements about things that are opinions, but this is a case where these people are just plain WRONG. The reason doing this is wrong is because: 1. It creates a policy whereby it is assumed that all users are not smart enough to figure out for themselves what kind of reply is desired/optimal (though sadly, in some cases that turns out to be true). 2. Doing so makes it next to impossible to reply privately when you know you actually want that. Most clients automanaiacally follow Reply-To if it is present, in which case the author of such a response will have to manually edit the recipient list, which on some clients may involve aborting the reply to get back to the messge view to find what the sender's address actually is. If you've ever had to do this, you know it's tedious and annoying. Mutt is the only client I know of that gives you a choice in the matter, via the $reply-to variable. Though, it's been a long while since I used Pine, that may have a similar option that I've forgotten. -- Derek D. Martin http://www.pizzashack.org/ GPG Key ID: 0xDFBEAD02 -=-=-=-=- This message is posted from an invalid address. Replying to it will result in undeliverable mail due to spam prevention. Sorry for the inconvenience.
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