RE: [ML ISSUE] reply-to field ?
Matus UHLAR - fantomas wrote on Saturday, March 31, 2007 6:03 AM -0500:
> On 30.03.07 16:33, Seth Goodman wrote:
> > That's a large enough hurdle that I think it safe to say the horse
> > has left the barn on this one a long time ago. Continuing to insist
> > that things _should_ have been different, long past the point where
> > that is feasible, only makes us look foolish. In that, we have been
> > successful.
>
> This thread started with complaining about non-existent Reply-To:
> headers set by the list. Some people, including me, say that there are
> much better ways to solve the mailing list reply problem. Maybe you
> should read this thread again.
I just did and I don't think I've misinterpreted it.
The OP complained about the fact that when reading the d-u list in
gmail,
as in most other web mail interfaces and MUA's that don't have a
reply-to-list function, the reply goes to the original author rather
than
the list. The suggestions made to the OP were to POP his mail and use
an
MUA that has reply-to-list, use IMAP and change to an MUA that has
reply-to-list, or complain to gmail to get them to do it the debian way.
The OP didn't find those suggestions helpful for the same reasons that
most other people don't. To summarize them:
1) most people who ask this question are not asking about how to best
set
up a personal email system on their own server; they only care to read
and
respond to d-u list traffic, *in addition* to the lists they are
currently
reading; changing MUA's is a lot of work just to properly read one list;
2) most people are happy with their current MUA or web mail interface,
even if people at d-u don't like their choices; since d-u is usually the
only list they have encountered that works this way, it is a completely
reasonable question to ask, and they don't deserve a public berating for
asking;
3) many people find free web mail accounts very convenient, especially
for
non-critical mail like lists; I don't happen to be one of them, but I
recognize the popularity of web mail and don't care to ignore that
audience;
4) asking people to complain to gmail/yahoo/msn to implement
reply-to-list
functionality is an attempt to get them to take on somebody else's
technical agenda, and that doesn't work; even if a couple of them did
complain, no one is going to change for a few users from a few lists;
5) IMAP is not commonly available as a free service; it takes a fair
amount of effort to set up yourself, and not all MUA's support it well;
6) others here pointed out that the d-u community sets its own rules:
you
either accept them or leave, and likened it to a private yacht club; if
that's what d-u is about, then we're in trouble; my understanding was
that
this is a open community, not a private club full of snobs; we should
not
treat newcomers that way (or anyone else, for that matter);
There's nothing wrong with offering POP + new MUA, IMAP + new MUA or
even
complain to gmail as alternatives. The problem is believing that a
fourth
possibility, that d-u operates its lists like the rest of the world, is
off limits to discussion.
--
Seth Goodman
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