Replies

[nsivin@xxxxxxxx (Nathan Sivin)]

We finally have a clear reading on the problems of replying directly to
messages you receive from the list. Here is what the Penn sysop says:

From: Michael Nenashev 
Subject: Re: Bugs
To: nsivin@xxxxxxxx (Nathan Sivin)
Date: Sat, 9 Jul 1994 19:06:05 -0400 (EDT)

According to Nathan Sivin:
| | I would be grateful if you could give me some idea of what is happening
| with the bug that makes it impossible to send replies to the 3 lists. |
Thanks,

I would like to note that sending a reply to the message originator rather than
the whole list is not considered to be a bug by the author of the majordomo
(list server) software.
I switched all lists to the new version of majordomo; your lists are configured
to add the "Reply-To: " header line to all messages; the rest depends
on the mail packages that your subscribers use. Our elm makes use of this field
when replying, but I can not guarantee that other MUAs behave similar.

--Michael.
END OF MESSAGE

Please note the implications. If you read a message and just press the reply
button, your reply should go only to the person who sent it. You can verify
this by noting the address listed in the "Reply-to" field. If you want your
reply to go to the whole list, which I assume you normally will, you have two
choices. The simplest is to add the list address
(LISTNAME@ccat.sas.upenn.edu) in the COPIES TO: field, if your local software
provides one, as most do. The alternative is to send a new message to the list
address, identified as a reply to so-and-so. If you get into the habit of
doing that, we can finally carry on sustained conversations with a minimum of
effort. You can minimize the effort further if you make an alias for the list
address.

Only one thing remains to be done, namely testing to make sure that the first
method works. To do that, I will ask you, when you read this message, to send
a direct reply to the list using the first method
(filling in the COPIES TO: field). Please indicate in the message that that is
what you are doing. Before you delete this message, please return to it and
send another direct reply without filling in the COPIES TO: field, stating that
that is what you are doing. I will be able to tell from the results what is
working and what isn't, and will inform you withink 48 hours of the simplest
procedure that works. The method of sending a new message is bound to work,
and so doesn't have to be tested. Sorry for the imposition, but this should be
the last time.

I will be back in Philadelphia 20 July. Many thanks.

-- Nathan Sivin
History and Sociology of Science
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia PA 19104-3325