2004.11.23 15:29 "Re: [Tiff] Using TIFFGetField to get a "Rational"", by Eric Vergnaud

It seems I was auto-unsubscribed from the tiff mailing list by the damn list manager a couple weeks ago or so and I missed the whole facinating discussion of reply-to's and list mechanics. Apparently, I didn't miss to much actual discussion of TIFF or libtiff.

I generally prefer my lists to direct reply-to's to the mailing list to "keep the conversation going" in public. However, when I configure lists this way, someone will inevitably complain and point me to:

http://www.unicom.com/pw/reply-to-harmful.html

I agree with alot of what this says as well, so I find myself uncertain what to do. So my new policy is I don't fiddle with this. I just leave it however it is on any given list and focus on more productive discussions.

I encourage people on mailing lists to get in the habit of hitting the reply-to-all button (or key) in their mail reader when they desire to reply to the whole list.

Now, I would humbly request that we let this discussion drop. I'm not willing to change the configuration, and I would prefer to keep the amount of non-tiff related discussion on this list limited so as to not drive off those with a casual interest in TIFF but a limited tolerance for noise.

PS. I'm not sure I'm properly back on the list even now. Don't hesitate to cc: me on emails.

Just because it's available on a web situation, the personal opinion described on that url is not more valid than mine or yours.

The result, as has been mentioned, is that a huge amount of interesting content never reaches the list, which makes the list less used, which means people forget about the "reply-to-all". It's a chicken and the egg situation.

I bet 50% of my contributions never reach this list. I'm a suscriber of curl, java-dev, tomcat, twain and many other lists, and in 10 years, I've NEVER seen anyone complain about the way these lists work - that is: AS EXPECTED.

Don't encourage people to "get in the habit of hitting the reply-to-all button "! Computing is about automating people's work, not drown them with rules that are not guaranteed to be followed.

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Eric VERGNAUD - JLynx Software
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