Wow! I received what must be a record number of replies to my question
about replies being directed to the sender or to the list. Since the
response was overwhelmingly in favor of leaving things as they are, I
thought it best to send a message of reassurance that things will stay
the way they are, barring an unlikely avalanche of replies to the
contrary.
Out of 27 votes, only two members advocated the default being changed to
the "reply to list" option.
Some individuals cited the usual issue for not replying to the list, such
as excess list traffic that would better have been taken to private mail.
On the other side of the coin, one person's reply to a question might also
answer that question for more than one person.
I was on a non ham-related list where the default was set to reply to the
list, and more than one person ended up with egg on his face for posting
a flame, thinking it would go only to one individual.
Interestingly, the default in Mailman seems to be "reply to list," but I
have changed that for all of the lists that I administer on qth.net, as
well as for this list.
To sum it up, I suppose that we need to rely on each member's judgment
as to whether to post a reply to the sender, the list, or both. I would
ask that, in the interest of sharing information, answers to a
specific question be posted to the list for all to see, with a personal
reply as well, if you like. Obviously, from all of the responses that I
have received, listmembers are well versed in the distinction between
"reply" and "reply all."
Thanks again for all of the well-reasoned responses. This list stands out
as one of the very best that I read.
73 de Jim - AD6CW
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