>>Last note: xteq mailing list was set up to allow to reply directly to
the
>>mailing list. doxygen-users ML is set up for replying to the
originator of
>the
>>message. I believe the ML administrator should set the xteq behavior,
as it
>>is more convenient.
>
>I realize that it is more convenient, but most mailing lists are set
to
>reply to the originator for a reason. This avoids the problem we often
have
>on the xteq list of autoresponders flooding the mailing list when
someone
>goes out of town and forgets that they are on the mailing list.
The MailMan program (which is used by SourceForge) has an option to
delay incoming mails to prevent auto-reply-flooding. Also, MailMan is
smart enough to filter a lot of things out that aren't supposed to go
to the list, including commands like Unsubscribe, and (possibly, I'm
not sure of this), mails that already have been sent (e.g. auto-respond
replies).
The problem as I recall with the old list was many times that
autoresponders would reply to the sender, not to the list, so the list
server couldn't adequately react to the autoresponder (e.g. by
forwarding the mail to the administrator and putting the recipient on
hold) because it would never get the mail. So setting the reply-to to
the list addres wouldn't even work for these brain-dead auto-
responders.
Another issue: many times, people simply reply to mails by clicking the
reply-button. The reply will be sent to the person who asked so she
will be happy, but she will also get many replies of other people who
didn't see the first reply. This is a waste of effort for people who
regularly reply to questions on the mailing list and don't initiate
many discussions themselves.
Also, on brain-dead mailing clients (like the one I use, I have to
admit, even though it was written by my own company), there isn't even
a reply-to-all or reply-to-sender-not-originator button - you have to
dig through menus to get to it and of course it's easy to forget to do
so, especially if you're subscribed to multiple mailing lists (like
me).
In short: I think the old situation was better and reply-to the mailing
list address should return.
===Jac
|
