replying to the list

[Michael Allan]

Thomas and Ed,

Thomas von der Elbe wrote:
> I like the Metagov version better. And it seems to work there for long.
> 
> If I click reply to all, doesnt it send 2 messages to the author then?

Doesn't Thunderbird have "reply to list"?  That's the correct way to
reply I think, assuming you actually intend to reply to the list.

If "reply to all" is all you have, then you could remove the author's
address before posting.  If you forget, what happens depends on the
author's subscription settings with that particular list.  Anyone know
the default?  (I think it filters out redundant messages by default,
but not sure.)

Ed Pastore wrote:
> I can see how some high-end nerds with a lot of SMTP savvy would
> find this [forced reply to list] to be a "bad thing," but I think it
> is preferable for almost all other users. ...

At first I'd agree, but on 2nd thought the recommended setting is
better.  The neophyte subscriber may subscribe to other mailing lists
in future, and get confused.  Better if he/she learns how to use a
list from day one.

When one's in a group discussion offlist with multiple recipients (in
To or Cc headers), one must emember to hit "reply to all" if that's
the intent.  That's consistent with the recommended practice for
mailing lists, and I feel that consistency is good here.

Also, forcing a reply to the list makes it more difficult to reply to
the author when that's the intent.  The "reply" function is *supposed*
to reply to the author in email - just as in letter mail - and we
shouldn't go messing with that.  A subscriber may type something
confidential and then rightly hit "reply", only to see it broadcast to
all subscribers.

-- 
Michael Allan

Toronto, +1 416-699-9528
http://zelea.com/


Ed Pastore wrote:
> Yes, on Metagov I have Reply-To set to "This List." As with the other  
> setting, clicking reply-all on a client replies to both. But this  
> setting sets the preference for Reply to go to the list instead of the  
> poster.
> 
> I can see how some high-end nerds with a lot of SMTP savvy would find  
> this to be a "bad thing," but I think it is preferable for almost all  
> other users. Many people click Reply and click Send without ever  
> really bothering to notice who they are replying to. So if the default  
> is to reply to sender, this has the end result of many threads getting  
> taken off-list. The reply-to-list setting encourages conversations to  
> stay on-list. People on this list are mostly pretty tech savvy, so  
> that may not be an issue, but as the list grows you may notice some  
> lost threads, or broken ones, where one person keeps taking it off- 
> list and the replier keeps trying to bring it back on.
> 
> P.S. So nice to "hear" from you Thomas!

-- 
Michael Allan

Toronto, +1 416-699-9528
http://zelea.com/