Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!lll-tis!ames!pasteur!agate!ig!uwmcsd1!bbn!rochester!ken
From: ken@cs.rochester.edu (Ken Yap)
Newsgroups: comp.mail.mh
Subject: Re: automatic mail reply
Message-ID: <7083@sol.ARPA>
Date: 24 Feb 88 03:56:15 GMT
References: <820.572558900@bearcat> <880223112451.2.ED@BLACK-BIRD.SCRC.Symbolics.COM>
Reply-To: ken@cs.rochester.edu (Ken Yap)
Organization: U of Rochester, CS Dept, Rochester, NY
Lines: 24

|Before doing this, of course, remove your name from mailing lists such
|as UNIX-WIZARDS.  A random contributor to mailing lists is not particularly
|interested in the information that J. Random Hacker is in Disney World
|until Thursday, but you can call his mother at 1-800-555-1212.

This is usually not practical due to the lead time of mailing lists.

A better way is to stick the mailing list address into your database of
people who have already mailed so no further replies will be generated.
How this is done is an exercise left to the reader.

Unfortunately this won't work if the mailing list doesn't rewrite the
header.

As a ex mailing list maintainer, I find such replies less upsetting
than bounced mail. There should be a special place in net hell for
people who go away without cancelling their mailing list
subscriptions.

Then again, I shouldn't be so harsh. There are some lists I haven't
heard a peep from in months and have no idea whether they are alive and
whether I'm still on. Even if I do get something from the list, usually
there isn't a moderator to see my cancel request.

	Ken