Reply-To header

[Roel Schroeven]

Peter Decker wrote:
> On 10/3/05, Roel Schroeven <rschroev_nospam_ml at fastmail.fm> wrote:
> 
> 
>>The default of this list is not to make conversations private; in fact
>>the list doesn't have any default. It's you who chooses to send replies
>>to the original author, to the list, or both, by choosing which button
>>to press in your mail client.
> 
> 
> Interesting: which button do I press to reply only to the list? I'm
> using Gmail, and it only has 'Reply' and 'Reply to all' as options.
> One sends a private reply; the other sends 2 replies. I checked all my
> other mail clients, and they work the same way.

As I said, all mail clients I know lack that feature. Sad state of
affairs, but it still doesn't mean that mailing lists should munge
headers in order to circumvent shortcomings in mail clients.

> Setting the default Reply-To: to the list means that 'Reply' sends
> just to the list (the desired behavior most of the time), and 'Reply
> to all' sends 2 copies.

The thing is: Reply-to has legitimate uses. I don't really understand
the use cases (AFAICS all of them could be done with Form: instead), but
the fact is that the standard explicitly states a number of use cases
for it. Once you start munging the header, those use cases done't work
anymore; the very thing Reply-to was designed to solve, stops working.

It's always best that simple things are easy, and difficult things are
possible. But that's not always possible, and when one has to choose
between (a) easy things are easy but complex things are impossible and
(b) easy things are less easy but complex things are possible, one
should choose (b).

> I'm on several other lists, some of which default replies to the list,
> and others which default to the sender. I've *never* seen threads like
> this on the former, while such threads appear like clockwork on the
> latter. Draw your own conclusion.

I don't see that kind of threads appear all that often. Almost never in
fact.

>>Not that it matters that much to me, since I read practically all
>>mailing lists via gmane.org. That turns the lists into newsgroups, where
>>the reply button (follow-up, more accurately) does send the reply to the
>>newsgroup.
> 
> 
> So the answer is to not use the email interface, since the newsgroup
> interface actually gets it right!  :)

Well yes. Mailing lists and usenet newsgroups are two different media
for about the same kind of communication, and IMO the interface offered
by usenet is more suited to that kind of communication.

Regars,
Roel

-- 
If I have been able to see further, it was only because I stood
on the shoulders of giants.  -- Isaac Newton

Roel Schroeven