Re: [Evolution] Reply for list messages should go back to the list

[David Woodhouse <dwmw2 infradead org>]

On Wed, 2010-07-14 at 09:01 -0430, Patrick O'Callaghan wrote:
> On Wed, 2010-07-14 at 13:05 +0100, David Woodhouse wrote:
> > In general, those who are sophisticated enough to preconfigure
> > anything are perfectly capable of hitting the right buttons in the
> > first place. There doesn't seem to be a lot of point in such a
> > context-dependent action, for someone who knows what they're doing.
> >
> > The real target of this automatic behaviour would be the clueless
> > users who don't really think about what they're doing -- yes?
>
> No. You keep saying this is about getting "stupid" users to do the right
> thing. That may be your view but it was never part of the justification
> for my original proposal. 

I think you're having a Pavlovian politically-correct reaction to the
word 'clueless'. Whatever terminology you prefer to use, I'm talking
about this case:

        "As someone who posts quite a lot on this list, I'm forever
         having to deal with people replying to my personal address
         rather than the list address. Of course they should be using
         Reply To List (Ctrl-L) or even Reply-To-All (Shift-Ctrl-R) but
         occasionally they forget and use just Reply (Ctrl-R) so one has
         to remind them. I'm sure other frequent contributors find the
         same thing."

Yes, I find the same thing, and the word *I* use for these users
(including myself, on the occasions that I screw up) is "clueless".
Or "stupid".

I really do think we're talking about the same thing.

> I tend to give people who make the occasional mistake the benefit of
> the doubt and not assume they are idiots unless they persistently
> repeat the same mistakes.

That's nice. I'm sure you're a lovely person. I prefer not to worry
about whether my choice of words will make them cry or not, and see what
I can do to make the software easier for them to use correctly.

>  The point of the suggested changes is to make it easier for *anyone*
> to do the right thing in the most common case without having to think
> about it.

The problem is that you *cannot* get it right in all circumstances.

The best option is *not* to choose. Let the *user* tell Evolution what
to do, and don't give them nasty surprises. And, obviously, make it
*really* easy for them to tell Evolution what to do, and add the nag
pop-ups when it looks like they may have made the wrong choice.

-- 
dwmw2