-----Original Message----- From: Danny Sauer [mailto:suse-linux-e.suselists@danny.teleologic.net] Sent: Friday, August 06, 2004 2:57 PM To: SuSE List Subject: Re: [SLE] reply-to settings
Richard wrote regarding 'RE: [SLE] reply-to settings' on Fri, Aug 06 at 14:13:
Whelp, better get my few cents in too, while the gettin's good.
[...]
Its the new audience that I would be more concerned with. Compared to all of the other lists out there, it appears a "strange" convention and just reinforces the perception of many that working with Linux and Unix is a trial in frustration and is counterintuitive. Forget that fact, that this statement applies to all software when you are new to it - this is a perception of many.
If everyone wants to have the Reply-to: set on messages to this list, they can always set it themselves. Good mailers do allow the concept of aliases or other methods of setting custom headers based on some criteria. If everyone really wants Reply-to:, they can set it themselves. The list serve admin won't stomp on that, since it's following the good practice of making minimal changes to messages.
Anyway, I doubt that most newbies are determining whether they'll use SuSE or not on how easy it is to use the mailing list. Subscribing alone is a prety big pain if you've just got one question - what's a little more pain in having to pay attention to the reply address? :)
I'd go out on a limb and suggest that lots of the really good help people will get is from the people who've been using this and other similar systems for a long time. That long time typically includes people who were using the net back in/before the early-mid 90's, when the standards for online comms were actually followed by everyone. No HTML email, no replies *before* context, etc. Also, no potentially stomping on people's Reply-to: header if they used that sending to a list. Rewriting would be helpful probably 3/4 or more of the time, but the few times when it blew away a useful reply address just for the sake of convenience is no good. The current position irritates some, but helps others. Changing the position would irritate some and help others. Changing would only shift the irritation around, and more irritation would be shifted onto the old-timers at the benefit of the new users. If someone's gonna have to be irritated either way, which is the case, it'd probably be better for that group to be those who contribute less to the list. It's maybe a little harsh, but the newcomers who don't notice the extra step required to properly reply contribute less than those who do it right - and those newbies are less important to the old-timers who also happen to run the list. Gripe, and you get lumped in with those who "don't matter". Sad, irritating, whatever. That's the way it is, and I don't see *significant* sales dissapearing because of it.
Our company is completely committed to SuSE Linux on the server side and investigating it heavily for some development workstation use. Still, most of our desktop use is Microsoft, including Outlook. This may change over time, but hopefully does not disqualify us from participating in the list and pursuing our Linux server direction.
I maintain a network that includes Win2K and OS X workstations (and my Linux desktop). I haven't been kicked off yet - but I haven't been here long, either. ;) You're probably safe.
--Danny, old-timer who sets his own Reply-to: for the benefit of those newbies
Hey! I'm a newbie here, and I figured out the "list etiquette" here :)