Different “reply” functions: reply-to-sender, reply-to-list, reply-to-all (was: Setting default_factory of defaultdict to key)

[Ben Finney]

Shiyao Ma <i at introo.me> writes:

> On Dec 07 at 11:31 -0500, Dave Angel wrote:
> > Since this clearly is intended to be part of the earlier thread,
> > please make it so by using reply-list or whatever equivalent your
> > email program has.
>
> Kinda OT. But interested what's the difference between reply-list and
> to.

There are multiple “reply” functions for email:

* Reply-to-sender: Use this when you intend to reply privately to the
  individual who sent the message.

* Reply-to-list: Use this when you intend to reply, not to the sender
  privately, but to the public forum to which they sent their message.

* Reply-to-all: Use sparingly if at all, when you want to reply
  explicitly to every single recipient of the sender's message.

  This last one quickly gets out of control, so should not be used
  without then inspecting the set of recipients and trimming out those
  who may not want more messages in the discussion.

If your mail client doesn't have all three of these clearly distinct
features, lobby the vendor to add the feature, and until they succeed,
switch to one which does.

<URL:https://www.mail-list.com/reply-to-sender-reply-to-list-reply-to-all/>

> In addition, based on what information a thread is formed?

Every message has exactly one header. A message may have, in its header,
a field (such as the “In-Reply-To” or “References” field) to indicate
which message(s) this one is in response to. By using that field, any
mail client can show that relationship among messages forming a
discussion thread.

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Ben Finney