On Tue, Feb 28, 2012 at 11:44 AM, Brian K. White <brian@aljex.com> wrote:
On 2/28/2012 11:27 AM, Greg Freemyer wrote: <snip>
Brian,
I'm not arguing that the netiquette be changed. I am saying in general I choose to no longer follow that aspect of it. And any that want to may ask me to blacklist their postings so I won't offend them by doing a reply all that includes them.
FYI: I see you on other opensuse lists like -project, -factory, etc. At least some of them are "open" to non-subscribers. Thus if a non-subscriber posts they will only see the answer if reply-all is used. That is done because opensuse has 100+ lists. Having many of the specialized lists like -packaging, -kernel, etc. open allows anyone in the community to post to them and get answers without having to be subscribed to dozens of lists.
That is the model LKML has used for at least a decade, so many of the core developers use it automatically.
Does anyone but Henne even know which opensuse lists are open and which aren't? Do you take care to reply-all on the open lists, and only reply-to-list on the closed ones. Not doing a reply all on the open lists is more than inconsiderate, it causes those lists to not actually work the way they are designed.
Greg
I always reply to wherever I received something from with very very few exceptions, namely when the sender made a mistake and sent to me directly when they clearly intended it to go to a list.
If I receive something from a list I reply to that list and am only interested in dealing with that conversation via the list, because I specifically want the entire conversation to happen in public and be archived.
Direct personal emails are reserved for personal friends and customers that are paying for the privilege. I'll spend time for free on mail lists because I see that as a worthy investment in the community. I'll answer questions that take hours to develop and test for free on a list because then it's documented in public and archived, and that time I spent isn't just going to one person who is neither my personal friend nor a customer who paid me for it. It's public documentation and reference which is useful to me in the future and useful to everyone else now and in the future.
If someone want's to participate on those terms, well that's great. But if someone wants to cash in on the goods without playing by the same rules as the people _helping them out for free_ well that's just too bad. It's kind of like the gpl in a way. You don't have to use gpl software, but if you do, you have to play by the rules that says you can't just take the goods in one direction to yourself, you have to give back and give forward the same stuff to everyone else. If you don't like it or don't understand why that rule is critical, then by all means, don't play by it, and, don't use any gpl software.
Brian, Your answer assumes only 2 options. Reply-only-to-list Reply-only-to-original-poster There is a third and it is the the one that is Mandatory on LKML. Reply-all : that includes the list and the original poster. And as the thread grows, it includes everyone that has participated. If you don't do reply-all on lkml and its 100 or so associated mailing lists, you will be corrected and asked to use reply-all going forward. All the communications stay in the public record, but if you have an open list such as opensuse-packaging (I believe) anyone can post there and get public help without have to be subscribed. Again, anyone participating in those opensuse lists that are open should use reply-to-all. That's why those lists were opened up in the first place and not doing so causes those lists not to function as intended. So my netiquette failure causes one extra "delete" click for the original poster. ie. the person asking for help or at least participating in the thread. The opposite failure on an open list causes the list itself to not work as desired and forces people to subscribe to lists they rarely need to post to. Greg -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org