List replies (was Re: cacha?a and OFF TOPIC)

[Bookrat]

>Same think happened to me when I tried to respond to Mike Salovesh a few
>minutes ago.  When my reply didn't appear on this list, I checked and saw
>that it had gone only to Mike.  (I put the ADS address on it by hand and
>resent it.)  Explanation, anyone?
>
>James E. Clapp

Short answer:

Replies always go to the address specified in the "Reply-To:" header.  In
general, that address is this list itself, but sometimes it's the address
of the sender.  Check before you send.  (Everyone does this anyway, right?
:) )

Long-winded answer:

The broader philosophical question is this: when one hits the "Reply" key
in answer to a list posting, where *should* the reply go?  There are two
intuitive answers: to the list itself, or to the original sender.  There's
no one right answer to the question.  Some people like to have replies go
to the list, which encourages keeping discussions on-list at the expense of
increasing list traffic; some like to have replies go to the sender, which
tends to cut down on list traffic at the expense of taking some interesting
discussions off-list.

Default "Reply" behavior is in the control of the listowner.  ADS-L has a
very common setting: by default, the "Reply-To:" address is the list
itself, *unless* the original sender has specified a "Reply-To:" header of
his or her own, in which case that address is used.

The sender's "Reply-To:" header is commonly but not always within the
control of the sender; sometimes it is set by the sender's system
administrator, and there's not much the sender can do about it.  Sometimes
it is set by the sender's system administrator, but the sender can override
it.

The bottom line is that, while there are many opinions regarding what
should be the default "Reply" behavior, you can't take anything for
granted.  Check before you send.

Ken Miller
Systems Annalist
Babbage Engine Works