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Re: Understanding response protocols

2004-10-15 13:49:18


----- Original Message -----
From: "D. J. Bernstein" <djb(_at_)cr(_dot_)yp(_dot_)to>
To: <ietf-822(_at_)imc(_dot_)org>


Keith Moore writes:
Actually some people are proposing blind acceptance.  They want MFT to
be honored automagically, regardless of the content of the reply.

No. Mail-Followup-To does _not_ override the wishes of the user sending
the followup. It is simply a _default_ recipient list. The old de-facto
standard was

   To+Cc+(Reply-To||From)

as the _default_ recipient list; the replacement is

   Mail-Followup-To||(To+Cc+(Reply-To||From))

as the _default_ recipient list. The user is free to edit the list if he
wants something different---but we choose _defaults_ to save time for
the user in the common case that he's doing something predictable.

You say that some MUAs have bad list-editing interfaces: in particular,
they don't make the recipient list clear to the user. That's certainly
something to fix---no matter what the default recipient list is! You
keep bringing this up in a Mail-Followup-To context as if it were a new
problem; but the same problem existed long before Mail-Followup-To.

I may add there is also a consideration for a MUA where the reply fields are
not "editable," such as for online interactions.

D.J,

I am seriously thinking of adding support for Mail-Followup-To:  if I can
understand it better.

Above you seem to agree that performing the default "common case behavior is
desirable. If so, I agree.

Currently a "Reply to Sender" goes to you.  To respond to this list, I have
to to a "Reply to All."  I guess may make sense.  But here I have to remove
your address and I only "consciously" did so because I seem to recall an
message here from you where you indicated you don't want the direct mail
from a list.  Maybe it was someone else, but in any case, my questions are:

Does MFT apply only to a mailing list?

If any, how will a MUA support MFT?  How it is ergonomically offered to the
user?

    Reply To List? -->  Mail-Followup-To: | Reply-To: | From:
    Reply To Sender? --> Reply-To: | From:
    Reply To All? --> To+Cc+(Reply-To||From)

    Follow-up? -->  Mail-Followup-To: | Reply-To: | From:

If you added the Mail-Followup-To:   then why not add the Reply-To:?

Thanks

---
Hector Santos, CTO
WINSERVER "Wildcat! Interactive Net Server"
http://www.santronics.com