Q: Why, when I hit reply to a post on a Gentoo mailing list, does my answer only go to the original poster and not the entire list? (Or, I understand how to make my reply go to the entire list, but I don't like this setup. Why can't the list be set so that my reply goes to the list without extra effort on my part? A: The mailing list administrators have decided to go with minimal munging (altering of mail headers), which means that they have decided against altering headers to have replys go to the mailing list. There are various reasons for this--for example, if a subscriber has a full mailbox, the entire list receives notice of this every time that something is posted. Most GUI based mailers have a reply-to-all function--this will ensure that your reply goes to the mailing list as well as the original poster. Most users of text based emailers already know the methods to use, but if you don't, in Pine, there is a reply to group option. Setting mutt to reply to the list is covered in the unofficial documentation at forums.gentoo.org at http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=1085 While some list members do not like this method, it was very heavily discussed when it went into effect, with arguments on both sides. Eventually the list administrators decided to keep it this way. Discussing it on the mailing list will sometimes bring a polite explanation and other times a rather brusque comment to check the archives. Although the administrators regret the inconvenience that it may cause some users, it is felt that at present, it is preferable to the alternative, for several reasons, many covered at http://www.unicom.com/pw/reply-to-harmful.html (There are other eloquent arguments in favor of munging, and yes, the list administrators have seen them.)
I added this, and it is in CVS. //ZhEN
