From: Harvey Newstrom (harv@gate.net)
Date: Sun Mar 22 1998 - 15:27:49 MST
Based on the non sequitur responses I got, I don't think my posting was
very clear. Let me try again. I know how to use my individual software so
as to not disrupt the List. As a Network and Security Engineer, my
question is why we have configured this List so that every Netscape and
Eudora e-mail client has a button on their tool-bar that will disrupt this
List? Do we really think the solution is warn all the List participants to
"never push this button"?
Netscape and Eudora mailers have toolbars that contain two reply buttons.
One button is a "Reply-to-All" button which replies to the list and to all
particpants (sender, receiver, cc'd persons) to make sure they get copies.
This keeps participants who are not on the mailing List from getting
dropped from future discussion. The Other button is a "Reply-to-Single"
button that will only reply to the List only. This button drops
participants who are not on the mailing list from future discussion. Both
of these buttons are available at all times, and the user can always hit
either one. We cannot control which button a user hits to reply. Some
people have suggested setting the "defaults" in the e-mail client, but
these defaults only set which function key calls which button. Both
buttons are always available on the toolbar and the users who use the
buttons still have to remember which one to hit for this List. There is no
way to restrict the software to only type of reply.
The Extropians List is set up so that only one of these Reply buttons will
work as expected with no side effects. The user cannot choose what kind of
reply to use. Only one button will produce a single posting, whereas the
other button will trigger a cascade of duplicate postings for any followups
to the message. Control for who should be included in the reply is
restricted by the centralized List software and is not left to the user.
The centralized List software requires specific choices from the end user
if it is to function correctly. If the end user makes the wrong choices,
the entire List will suffer the disruptions in future posts. The reason
for this is that this List advertises itself in the headers as being two
"extropians" lists, one at "extropy.com" and one at "extropy.org". When a
user tries to Reply-to-All, they send copies to both of these Lists, which
both go to the same destination.
Other Lists are setup in a way that either Reply button will work as
expected with no side effects. The user can choose what kind of reply to
use. Both buttons work, and the List always gets one and only one posting.
Control for who should be included in the reply is left to the user. The
centralized List software does not require any specific choices for the end
user. The reason for this is that most lists have a single name only.
They are only listed under one name in the headers, so there is one and
only one reply to the List in any case.
Do we desire to be set up so only one Reply button will work? Is there a
reason why we don't want this List set up like other Lists so that either
button will work? Do we want to make the user's choice not disruptive in
either case? Or do we want to allow every List participant to have a
button on their desktop that can disrupt the List on every single message?
Do the benefits of calling this List both "extropians@extropy.com" and
"extropians@extropy.org" outweigh the annoyance of the duplicate messages?
-- Harvey Newstrom <mailto: harv@gate.net> PGP 5.5 Fingerprint F746 7A20 EB7D 27BA 80A5 4473 D8E1 6A54 1EB0 56F7 PGP Public Key available from <http://pgpkeys.mit.edu:11371>
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