[Ffmpeg-devel] reply-to headers and the mailinglist

[Måns Rullgård]

Rich Felker <dalias at aerifal.cx> writes:

> On Sat, May 07, 2005 at 06:26:48PM +0200, M?ns Rullg?rd wrote:
>> Rich Felker <dalias at aerifal.cx> writes:
>> 
>> > On Sat, May 07, 2005 at 11:58:01AM +0200, M?ns Rullg?rd wrote:
>> >> Erik Slagter <erik at slagter.name> writes:
>> >> 
>> >> > On Thu, 2005-05-05 at 18:20 +0200, Fran?ois Revol wrote:
>> >> >
>> >> >> > Setting relpy-to to the list addrss only makes it difficult to reply
>> >> >> > off-list, if that's what you actually want to do.
>> >> >> 
>> >> >> But it's not what I usually want to do.
>> >> >> 
>> >> >> If I want to do that I just "Reply to Sender" which does the correct 
>> >> >> thing.
>> >> >
>> >> > Exactly. The default action for a mailing list is to reply to all, not
>> >> > an individual, otherwise I could hardly call it a mailing list.
>> >> 
>> >> There is no such thing as a default action.  The users has several
>> >
>> > Yes there is. It's called the "reply" command and it replies to the
>> > address in the "Reply-to:" header, otherwise the address in the
>> > "From:" header.
>> 
>> Says who?  When I'm replying to a list posting, I always use the
>> "reply to all" command, so for me that's the default.
>
> Then your reply-to-all command is broken. Reply-to-all is supposed to
> address your reply to ALL recipients and the sender of the message
> you're replying to, i.e. it should have been addressed both to the
> list (the recipient) and to me (the sender).

That's true, in the absence of a reply-to header.  A reply-to header
specifies an address where replies should be directed, rather than
using the From header.  My mailer does the right thing.

>> >> commands to choose from, and they do different things.  The normal
>> >> thing to do when replying to a list posting, is to use the "reply to
>> >> all" function, which does the right thing, independently of any
>> >> reply-to header.
>> >
>> > Not it does not! It will reply both to the list AND the sender, which
>> > doubles the mail traffic and pisses the sender (me) off to no end!!!!
>> 
>> Most mailing list software can be configured not to send mail to
>> addresses already in the To or Cc headers.  This is usually also the
>> default setting, so no duplication here.
>
> This would be very annoying for me...

You are easily annoyed.

>> Furthermore, most mail
>> server will also filter out duplicate mail.  Should duplicates still
>> arrive, a good mail reader will filter them.
>
> ...since I send all mail addressed to a list but not delivered through
> that list to /dev/null (for idiots who reply-to-all).

Your choice.

>> >> > Also using the definition of the url
>> >> > (http://www.unicom.com/pw/reply-to-harmful.html) means that about half
>> >> > of the mailers is broken. Reminds me of a dutch proverb: "The whole is
>> >> > mad, said the lunatic." 
>> >> >
>> >> > I am not going to switch to another mailer to be more correct according
>> >> > to some people.
>> >> 
>> >> Are you saying Evolution doesn't have a  "reply to all" function?  I
>> >> would consider that broken, ideed.
>> >
>> > Reply to all is NOT THE CORRECT COMMAND! "Reply to list" is the
>> > correct command, but very few mailers have this, and normally you have
>> > to tell the mailer all the lists you're subscribed to in order for it
>> > to work.
>> 
>> Go ask on linux-kernel.
>
> I hope you know what I think of the kernel developers already..

Even if I don't know, I can make an educated guess.  That does not
imply that I understand why you think thus of them.

>> Over there, "reply to all" is the preferred thing, and for a good
>> reason.  The list traffic is huge, and getting a private copy of
>> replies makes them easier to spot.
>
> I ABSOLUTELY HATE private copies. I keep mplayer/ffmpeg mail separate
> from personal mail for a very good reason!! Presumably all the other
> developers except you do too.

The ffmpeg list has low enough traffic that it's never a problem to
spot replies you are waiting for.  On linux-kernel, a reply can easily
be overlooked in the noise.  Filing mail to linux-kernel, which is
also addressed to me personally, into a separate mailbox helps finding
these messages.

>> It also has the advantage, that people can join in one thread,
>> without subscribing to the list.
>
> This does not work well.

It seems to work well enough on linux-kernel.

Accept the facts, there is no reason for using the reply-to to list,
other than you (and others) being used to having it that way.

-- 
M?ns Rullg?rd
mru at inprovide.com