Date   : Wed, 14 Feb 2007 08:09:42 -0600
From   : julesrichardsonuk@... (Jules Richardson)
Subject: BBC Master 128 problem

Jon Ripley wrote:
> adam colley wrote:
>> Is there some reason the reply-to doesn't go to the list?
> 
> The following article has been referenced by the list maintainer:
> http://www.unicom.com/pw/reply-to-harmful.html

"Reasonable mail programs have two separate 'reply' commands: one that replies 
directly to the author of a message, and another that replies to the author 
plus all of the list recipients."

... surely that's just laziness and a waste of traffic? If replies only go to 
the list then other list members can add further input, but the "primary 
recipient" of the message will also see the text (because they're subscribed 
to the list).

If replies go to both automatically then the primary recipient gets two copies 
of "their" message, one of which they must delete. That seems a little 
wasteful. Colour me unconvinced :-)

"Reply-To munging destroys the 'reply-to-author' capability."

... maybe it'd be worth asking list members which they prefer? Personally 99% 
of the time I want replies to go to the list, not an individual, because with 
any reply there's always the possibility of stating incorrect information, and 
the more pairs of eyes that get to see a response the better chance that the 
intended recipient will be told the right thing. In the 1% of cases (and I'm 
grossly over-exaggerating there) where I want a message to go to an individual 
then it's hardly a big deal to change the recipient address (assuming of 
course that the list software doesn't mask the original - which causes 
problems of its own!)

cheers

Jules