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Replying to a mailing list

2002-06-03 18:11:40

At 12:43 PM 6/3/2002 -0400, Keith Moore wrote:
but I do like list-specific fields better than having lists rewrite
originator-supplied fields.

every now and again, Keith and I agree on something.  This is one of them.


(but of course, it did not last for even one entire message...)

And many/most humans can't be bothered, with
> the result that replies often wind up going to *everyone* the MUA will
> allow them to be sent to.

interesting that in the days of paper memos, people could be bothered
to think about such things.

the human factors issues are a tad different. paper did not automatically fill out the reply fields...

Getting the defaults "right" is a dilemma and, therefore, requires choosing the kind of error that is least undesireable.


part of the problem is probably (as you said) that the subtle
differences between return-path, from, reply-to, and sender
aren't clear to most email users

The intent was that users should only need to know about From/Reply-to, with Sender serving as a kind of accountability fall back. Return-path (and Sender) are intended for the mail handling system, not really for the recipient user.

d/

----------
Dave Crocker  <mailto:dcrocker(_at_)brandenburg(_dot_)com>
Brandenburg InternetWorking  <http://www.brandenburg.com>
tel +1.408.246.8253;  fax +1.408.850.1850