ietf-822
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Re: Understanding response protocols

2004-09-22 07:03:00

Philip Hazel writes:
Well, there have been suggestions of three commands/buttons/whatever,
giving the user the choice of responding to

(a) The author, typically taking reply-to or from
(b) All - everything in reply-to/From, To, and Cc
(c) Followup - contents of MFT (fallback to (b) if not present)

Those that want "mail behaviour" use (a) or (b); those that want "usenet behaviour" use (c). But I expect it isn't that simple.

It is a bit much to ask of people. People hate hurdles in their way, particularly ones that require abstract thinking.

I tried to implement something like that, but less abstract and not demanding an instant answer. In the reply window, I added a pane asking where to reply, showing the concrete consequences on-screen (ie. which addresses would be included/excluded for each type of reply). It still was a bit of a pain.

It seems to me that there is an inherent and unavoidable conflict: To select the right type of reply requires significantly more care and attention than email writers are used to now. Most are used to hitting one key and typing away.

...
At present, I use "reply to all" for virtually every message to which I respond,
...

I guess you're really avoiding a hurdle. Having to make a conscious decision when you want to start typing is an unpleasant distraction.

Someone's going to flame now, I'm sure.

Arnt