On Mon, 2015-03-16 at 13:07 +0100, Ralf Mardorf wrote:
Hi, there's a big problem with the way a mailing list handles mails and the way different MUAs handle mailing list mails. The least common denominator is that we should only reply to the mailing list and not to anybody else, we also shouldn't post to more than one list by one email. Let me explain my point of view. Some mailing lists are open mailing lists, but most mailing lists require subscription. However, not all mailing lists are based on mailman, but most are. For mailman mailing lists it's possible to prevent sending duplicated messages. The drawback then is, that we will receive the mail that was sent to us directly only, IOW this mail doesn't contain mailing list headers. Not all MUAs behave in the same manner. There are different ways to handle filters and even to invoke a mailing list reply. I for example use Claws and Evolution. Claws invokes mailing list replies by the "Reply" option, while Evolution does it using the "Group Reply" option. Regarding the way a mailing list reply is invoked, Evolution most of the times handles it better than Claws does, if we don't receive duplicated messages. OTOH Claws handles some other issues better than Evolution does and even this issue comes with variations. However, IMO it's important to find the least common denominator that works for most MUAs. For mailing lists the rule is, that most of the times a reply should be send to the mailing list only. There are just a few exceptions when it makes sense to Cc and those exceptional cases could be handled automatically, if the mailing list doesn't overwrites the Reply-To header. In such a case Claws does behave better than Evolution. It's possible to always send a mail to the list and not send a copy, if a sender didn't use a Reply-To header, but if a Reply-To header is used, the reply will be send to the list and to the Reply-To address, assumed the mailing list doesn't overwrite the Reply-To header. So, the major issue is, that different MUAs behave different and that even mailing lists using mailman, could have different settings, even settings a user can't set up by the account settings, such as e.g. how the list handles the Reply-To header. The approach "my needs are the most important needs and my MUA does it the one and only right way" is ignorant. Communities should care about things in common. It's common sense to send a mail to just one mailing list and to send a reply to the mailing list only. There are exceptions, but those are very seldom for user lists, so they are unimportant for the common sense and as pointed out, it's possible to handle the Cc'ing smarter, when using Regards, Ralf
Since this mailing list requires a subscription, I will address my responses to the mailing list, so that everybody benefits from the answers. Will the mailman ignore/bitbucket those messages that the source address is not subscribed? -JM
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