Re: Duplicates sent from lists

At 14:08 2004-02-17 +0100, Dallman Ross wrote:

> [Otoh, I sometimes send a copy "advertently."  Those who write little
> "love notes" at the bottom of their posts to the effect of, "I am
> subscribed to this list; so why would I want a *copy* when I will
> read your message on the list (you annoying twit)?" do quite miss the
> point, imho.
Not at all - I archive _all_ my email, so extra copies are uncalled for - 
they're a waste of bandwidth and storage.  Further, when some nimrod gets a 
virus, it's yet another copy of my email address in their system.  It is 
also difficult to bow out of a discussion when you contribute something, 
then someone replies-all, and other people continue that trend (resulting 
in an ever-growing recipient list).  Further, it's my stance that any 
message bearing MY address should bear my address only because that message 
actually merits my direct attention, and so, such messages are flagged in 
my mail reader so that they stand out.  It makes it much easier to scroll 
through a mailbox and spot direct messages from people, but terribly 
annoying when people opt to send cc's just for the hell of it on threads to 
which I've merely contributed.
I respect you may have a need or desire to archive replies to you, though 
it could probably be achieved by a similar request in a sigline.  An 
extension to mailing-list software would be pretty nifty here: based on a 
s*bscription option, the list could define a reply-to: list on posts one 
makes if you prefer list-only replies, or a multi-address reply-to: for 
list&user.  Perhaps the ability to specify a Bcc: reply address 
("Reply-Bcc:" ?) so that you could request such replies and they wouldn't 
appear in the headers of the list-delivered message (thus keeping future 
followups from continuing to post offlist copies to you when they're not in 
reply to YOUR own post).
Of course, smarter MUAs wouldn't hurt either - MS Outbreak (or Express) 
still snarfs the From_ address for replies, rather than the actual From: 
(or Reply-To:), and some MUAs will gleefully include the SAME address 
multiple times in a [REPLY ALL] (say, on a list where it appears in the 
To:, but is also the Reply-To: or From:).  RFC2919 (which introduced 
"List-Id:" and similar list-headers) even discusses the possibility of MUAs 
utilizing those headers to generate "Join this List" and "Leave this list" 
type interface options - so extending that to how to reply to any given 
respondant really wouldn't be that far fetched an idea.
In the end, there's no substitute for a bit of cognitive power on the part 
of the individual hitting the REPLY button.
> I have ever received.  If you are writing back about something I said,
> then I find that to be of sufficient "personal" characterization that I
> wish to archive the message with my private mail.
:0:
* LISTNAME ?? ^^procmail^^
* B ?? Dallman
archive_this

<g>

Okay, so it's not terribly efficient, seeing as it's scanning the complete 
message body for your name.  At least your name isn't ultra-common.
> You already have in that action line above everything you need.
> "If LISTNAME exists, this is a list message.  If LISTNAME
> doesn't exist but a list is present in the To: or Cc: line,
> it's a courtesy copy."
Ah, but you don't note that he still needs to do this check _before_ 
running his message-id cache check (which obviously his Kremyness was aware 
of).  Also, this approach still requires that he identify each list in a 
regexp, thus failing to provide generic list identification (though 
certainly providing a central cc remover).

Despite having the generic list identifier code, I still have per-list 
rulesets, as messages from certain lists are subjected to additional 
actions, and are processed in varying order - say, "clean" lists versus 
"dirty" ones -- lists which support subscriber-only posting and those which 
let any old moron (or spammer) fire a message off at them, so despite a 
desire to streamline stuff, I still have a lot of per-list code in my config.
---
 Sean B. Straw / Professional Software Engineering

 Procmail disclaimer: <http://www.professional.org/procmail/disclaimer.html>
 Please DO NOT carbon me on list replies.  I'll get my copy from the list.


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