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Private copies of list replies (Was: Re: buildd and experimental)



On Wed, 2006-03-01 at 02:46 +0100, Gabor Gombas wrote:
> On Wed, Mar 01, 2006 at 01:04:17AM +0000, Brian M. Carlson wrote:
> > However, the code of conduct seems to
> > point out that one should not Cc someone unless they specifically ask
> > for it (a guideline that you neglected to follow, after I pointed this
> > out to Mr. Bushnell).
> 
> Frankly, I never check the recipient list when I press "g" in mutt. I
> assume that if you do not want to be CC'ed, then you can set up
> Reply-To: to express that.

Mutt has several different reply options, some of them may be more
appropriate than others.  Anyway, it does not matter: the Debian Mailing
List Code of Conduct *explicitly* says:

  When replying to messages on the mailing list, do not send a carbon
  copy (CC) to the original poster unless they explicitly request to be
  copied.

As the sender, it is your job to comply with that, not mine as the
recipient[0].

> Assuming that a new poster will find and decipher the cryptic contents
> of a non-standard e-mail header (that is even likely to be overwritten
> if there are several spam filters in the delivery chain) is completely
> unrealistic. The only sensible default is to assume that if there is a
> specific requirement for the reply, then the Reply-To: header will be
> set up accordingly (either automatically, or by the user who has the
> requirement).

No, I was suggesting that this be used by long time posters to determine
if a poster that they have not seen before might desire to be Cc'd, even
though they have not explicitly said so.  My point is that those who
have subscribed to the list are expected to have read and understood the
code of conduct, and should be Cc'd *only* if they ask for it.

Also, setting a Reply-To is often considered harmful for mailing lists,
as people are wont to accidentally send private mail to the list.

> > If you are unsure, you could simply not Cc someone unless they ask.
> 
> The problem is, every project has different requirements for its mailing
> lists. Right now I'm subscibed to about 20 lists only, but I'm sure
> as hell can not remember the policy for each of them. So if you'd like
> people to follow a specific policy, then tell that to their MUA by
> setting Reply-To:. After all, we have computers to do some work instead
> of us, not the other way around...

I'm sorry that you cannot remember, but perhaps you could use procmail
or something similar to make sure that this header is always set
according to each list policy.  Also, you could set up mutt to do
different things for different lists, if that's possible (I haven't used
mutt in a long time, so I don't remember).  Ultimately, it is your
responsibility as the sender.

I appreciate your cooperation with list policy.

[0] See Branden's form letter at:
http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2004/10/msg01178.html

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