Date   : Sun, 08 Nov 2009 12:10:09 +0000
From   : mfirth@... (Michael Firth)
Subject: Who the message is from...

Darren Grant wrote:
> On 8 Nov 2009, at 11:14, Michael Firth wrote:
>
>   
>> One other option would be to cross-subscribe the two lists, so that  
>> any
>> postings sent to the new list were forwarded to the old list, and any
>> sent to the old list appeared on the new list.
>>     
>
> Oh far to messy.
>
>   
Why is it messy? I would have to do two subscription actions, and every 
message would then be cross-sent to both lists.

As long as people who subscribed to the new list also un-subscribed from 
the original, then I don't think there would be much mess. I agree that 
if you don't unsubscribe from the original then you would have the 
problem of receiving two copies of every message, but it would be easily 
solved.
>> I think that somehow we need to get a poll of what people want, but I
>> don't know the best way to set such a poll up.
>>     
>
> I don't think it is really necessary, there are better things to worry  
> about.
>
>   
I agree that there are better things to worry about, but given that this 
discussion seems to happen on this list at least once a quarter, isn't 
it worth sorting out once and for all - if a survey shows that a large 
percentage of people have one opinion or the other, then it would either 
be an impetus to change, or something that could be pointed at when 
people ask why the list is like it is.

>> If people want a new list, I'm happy to set one up, I have unlimited
>> free mailing lists with my Web hosting, and, being based on the  
>> standard
>> modern list software, they should behave the same as all other modern
>> mailing lists.
>>     
>
> There are plenty of places you can get free mailing lists such as  
> yahoo groups etc and I think if people were that annoyed about how the  
> reply-to works the list would have been moved a long time ago. I think  
> one of the main advantages of this list over those provided by ISP's  
> is the complete lack of commercials not even on the archive page.
>
>   
My web hosting is a completely vanilla service, so any mailing list 
appears pretty much exactly as the current BBC mailing list, but with 
the option to have a "Reply-To" header added (I think it is a list wide 
option, not something that can be configured per recipient, unfortunately).
> It is far better that the list stay in one place so that new people  
> don't have to figure out that there are two lists and which one should  
> they subscribe to.
>
> We are a relatively small list and the upheaval of moving does not  
> seem worth the effort. I have however sent a message to James to see  
> what his opinion is, he doesn't seem to be particularly active on the  
> list himself so he might be willing to have someone else take on the  
> list by moving the whole thing in one go.
>
> If the list were to be moved then the best way IMHO would be to move  
> the mailman files to a new server so that nobody needs to re-subscribe  
> and everything just carries on as before but then have the option to  
> change settings.
>
>   
The mailman files wouldn't be needed, if the list were being fully and 
permanently moved then it would only be the current list of subscribers 
that's needed, as most mailing list software has an option to "bulk 
subscribe".
The issue I see with that is you're subscribing people to a mailing list 
without their permission, which is possibly unethical.

Regards

Michael