On 04.02.16 12:13, Dominik Vogt wrote: > On Thu, Feb 04, 2016 at 09:51:54PM +1100, Erik Christiansen wrote: > > OK, as is, "To:" becomes the sender of the post to which we're replying, > > i.e. the person to whom we actually are replying, and "CC:" is the list > > and all the other recipients of the prior post, i.e. the CC recipients. > > The effect of that is the same as your proposed aesthetic variant, AIUI. > > For one this is not just aesthetic, because putting a recipient in > "CC:" tells him or her "you might be interested in this" while > "To:" means "I'm talking specifically to you". I make this > distinction frequently and may often not read a message thoroughly > if I'm only in "CC:".
That is precisely why it is correct for the prior poster, i.e. the only person to whom we _are_ directly replying, to be alone on "To:", as currently occurs. We are not specifically replying to every list member, so it is correct for them to be on "CC:", in the form of the list address. The group of list members who are listed CC recipients who "might be interested in this", receive individual "courtesy copies" in addition to the list copy, which is often more than they want, as it is.¹ As you have defined it, and I am tempted to concur, it is the proposed variant which would be incorrect, if anything is. ¹ Because the damned "courtesy copy" arrives first, I'm forced to use procmail to divert that to the list mailbox. Then the list copy is dumped to "duplicates", so I'm spared the nuisance of needless repetition wasting my time. Now the reply can be read in the context of the thread - very handy if there is a follow-up with a subject of "FIXED: ...". Still, if desperate, you could: set edit_headers=yes and shuffle recipients about while composing the reply. If that doesn't suit, then ISTR that a post-edit filter could be written and automatically run on exit from the editor, e.g. a few lines of awk. (If not automatically, then it can definitely be run manually once back in the compose menu.) Erik
