We have two options.
Method 1 ("Reply-To munging"):
- Hit "reply", and the message gets addressed to the list.
- Hit "reply to all", and the message gets addressed to both the
previous sender, and the list.
Or method 2:
- Hit "reply", and the message gets addressed to the sender of the
message you're replying to (eg me if you were to reply to this one).
- Hit "reply to all", and the message gets addressed to both the
previous sender, and the list.
- Hit "reply to list" (if your mail client has it), and your message
gets addressed to the list.
Method 1 is currently in use. Most mailing lists use method 2. A good
summary of the debates on the subject can be found here:
http://woozle.org/~neale/papers/reply-to-still-harmful.html
(thanks Mike for posting that previously).
Method 1 is sometimes considered "easier" when all you ever do is reply
to the list, but it has the downside of making it easy to post personal
information publicly by mistake, so method 2 is more secure, and is by
far the most common these days (and is the recommended option in the
mailing list software). I am of the opinion that we should change to
method 2.
Note that Thunderbird v3 has "reply to list" built in (and there's an
add-on for v2, I think). I'm sure most other Linux clients have "reply
to list" too. However, Outlook and Outlook Express don't (maybe there
are plugins), and I don't know what web clients like gmail do. If your
client doesn't have it, then the correct option is to start with "reply
to all" then remove the original sender so they don't get two copies.
There will always be unintended consequences of any change. I foresee two:
- many people will reply to all, so anyone who posts to the list will
get two replies (one on the list, one direct) from many respondents
- other people will start a new email as a reply, and break the
threading capability of mail clients that support it
All of these problems ultimately stem from poor implementation of
standards (reply-to-list, threading, etc) in the popular mail clients
from a certain monopolistic software company; since most people don't
have a threading option they don't miss it when it's broken.
That said, I am still +1 for changing the way replies are handled.
--
Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0844 251 1450
Registered in England (0456 0902) @ 13 Clarke Rd, Milton Keynes, MK1 1LG
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