Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!think.com!news From: rlk@think.com (Robert Krawitz) Newsgroups: comp.mail.sendmail Subject: Re: Use of Errors-To: (LONG, how'd that happen?) Message-ID: <1991Mar8.202826.20811@Think.COM> Date: 8 Mar 91 20:28:26 GMT References: <1991Mar6.172315.1112@phri.nyu.edu> <44380215@bfmny0.BFM.COM> <45833180@bfmny0.BFM.COM> Sender: news@Think.COM Reply-To: rlk@think.com (Robert Krawitz) Organization: Thinking Machines Corp., Cambridge MA Lines: 35 In-Reply-To: lear@turbo.bio.net (Eliot) [This discussion is going on in header-people, too]. In article , lear@turbo (Eliot) writes: ]I would agree that even with netnews, big mailing lists will be with ]us for a while. Nevertheless, changing the behavior in the MUAs from ]that of what both the sender and receiver expect is something that ]mailing list moderators should not be doing. By whacking the headers ]that you describe, you inhibit the sender's ability to redirect ]replies as he deems appropriate (like maybe to a return account). By ]redirecting those replies to a public list, you risk causing novice ]users to broadcast private mail. That's a tradeoff the IETF considers ]too expensive. With all due respect, this is not the IETF's decision to make, but rather it should be left in the hands of the people who maintain lists. A large mailing list has more in common with a bulletin board than a private discussion, and the ground rules (whether it's appropriate to respond to the list at all, whether it's appropriate to respond personally to someone not on the list) need to be determined on a case by case basis. I claim that the sender has only a secondary right to direct replies, and that the moderator has the right to determine the primary reply policy (which of course can be overridden by the recipient). ]In fact, because some networks use address as the errors-to address ](bad practice), mailing list loops can develop as a result of setting ]the reply-to address automatically tom the list. Nothing pisses off ]members of a mailing list more than a mailing list loop. ...which is unfortunate, but true. Another reason why list maintainers need the freedom to set up headers as they (we) see fit. -- ames >>>>>>>>> | Robert Krawitz 245 First St. bloom-beacon > |think!rlk (postmaster) Cambridge, MA 02142 harvard >>>>>> . Thinking Machines Corp. (617)234-2116