Albert Y. C. Lai wrote:
Andrew Coppin wrote:
Thunderbird has a long-standing bug in that new posts having the same
subject line as some other post that happened many years ago get
added to that thread. It's really most irritating. :-S
I have investigated. A bit of skepticism goes a long way. Never be
taken in. So, for the record:
In Thunderbird if you click "Write" (not "Reply" or "Reply All"), the
headers are according to the semantics of "Write", i.e., no
"References:" or "In-Reply-To:". Insofar as headers, this is correct
behaviour.
When Thunderbird gets a post (from your "Write" or from outside) with
no "References:" and "In-Reply-To:" header, but with "Subject:" same
as existing posts, it still displays them together as a thread. But
this is just a display trick - "References:" and "In-Reply-To:" are
not fudged. Evidently, this is a measure against non-compliant posts.
Furthermore, this is configurable. In the config editor, look for
"mail.strict_threading".
The presence of the setting implies that the programmers know what
they are getting into. There is a tension between following the rules
and inter-operating with those who don't follow the rules. This is not
a bug; this is a conscious compromise. And you can change it.
Changing the setting doesn't change the threading structure of
existing posts - the decisions made back then were recorded. (There is
also a way to delete that, along with lots of other meta-data: delete
the appropriate .msf file.) The setting is effective for posts seen
henceforth.
I can't blame you for being not observant. Afterall, this is precisely
what I'm alluding to with "everyone can haz PC", or rather, the way
Bill Gates executes it. Everyone becomes superficial, everyone just
looks at what's displayed on the screen - or rather, fictionized on
the screen - and jumps to conclusions.
Never be taken in.
I have heard - multiple times - that this erroneous behaviour can be
turned off. I have tried endlessly to follow such instructions to the
letter. And yet, I can never get Thunderbird to not misthread things. So
kindly don't tell me I'm jumping to conclusions. I've read the bug
reports (there have been many!) and followed the instructions for
changing the settings, and it never ever works. I still get broken
threading.
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