On Thu, Jun 22, 2006 at 04:04:40PM -0500, Seth Goodman wrote: [...] > So getting back to the topic of this thread, insisting that "all > competent mailers" have a 'Reply to List' function, when none of the > most common mailers for people trapped in the most widely used operating > system have the required feature, is not really helpful to them. We > seem to be saying, in effect, "if you aren't smart enough to already use > Linux and have a competent MUA, get off this list". That is hardly > welcoming to those who are curious. There is nothing wrong with telling people that their <insert broken software package here> is [broken|not-standards-compliant|...] but the reality is that we can only do that gently as a way to begin educating others. Case in point: my sister uses hotmail and insists on top-posting. I pointed out once how this didn't work so well, demonstrated how to snip and intersperse responses and explained that it was more "courteous" to do things the "right" way. So, now she tries, and fails miserably, but she at least has an idea of it and over time she'll likely come around. Meanwhile, I suffer through silently knowing that someday she'll get it. There seem to be two ways to handle it, bludgeon them for their lack of knowledge and drive them away, or be a gentle persuader and convert them over time. .02 A
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