On Wed, 2005-11-23 at 10:16 -0500, James B. Byrne wrote: > On Tue, 22 Nov 2005 11:29:00 -0500 (EST), Joshua Baker-LePain > <jlb17 at duke.edu> wrote: > > > I'm sorry, but making decisions based on Stupid User Tricks is about > > the worst policy I can imagine. That way lies madness. > > No, where lies madness is in the self-centred way in which some > people make demands of others to alter innocuous behaviour so that > the data requirements of some MUA or other, that may or may not > support generally accepted conventions , that may or may not be > suitably configured, might be satisfied. > > I read mailing lists as digests. Message threading is of no use to > me outside of threaded web archives, that I seldom use in such > fashion. Neither is the subject content of much significance > beyond keying me as to whether some section of a digest may be of > particular interest. This is not to say that these features have > no value, only that my circumstances realize little any from them. > However, I have been taken to task nonetheless, because my personal > preferences do not meet with the approval of some. It is this > presumption that irritates me. > > I am not a member of this list simply to ease the administrative > burdens that some people create for themselves. I seek information > and informed opinion on technical issues related to the equipment I > am responsible for and the vocation I profess, not quasi-religious > debates on the morality of certain widely held but hardly universal > conventions. I sometimes (rarely) am in the possession of a piece > of information that may prove helpful to another, and so I offer on > occasion. However, in the main this list is my way of reaching > beyond my own ignorance. Usually I am in the position of > supplicant and I have found the people on this list generally as > helpful and usually as well informed as other lists that I > frequent. > > But I am concerned about the general tenor of some of the > discussions here and how these may lead to ill-feeling in some and > a disinclination to actively participate in others. We are all > infinitely ignorant, it is just that some of us possess a > predisposition to stay within that which we find familiar and > others find it easier to take adventures. > > Neither tendency is good or bad, they are just personal > preferences. It would be more comfortable for the list membership, > and improve the decorum of the messages considerably, if people > from one camp or the other, and the many of us that straddle both > albeit on different issues, displayed a willingness to accommodate > the other side and recognize that there are many important reasons, > not all of which we may agree with, why someone chooses to do > things a certain way. > > Complaining about people's email habits, particularly in public, > where the content is not the issue strikes me as pointless, self- > indulgent in the extreme, and reflects most poorly on the > personality of the complainant. ---- as someone who has attempted to solve problems by searching the archives, let me assure you that the value of threaded posts/replies makes this a usable method. When the threads are broken, it becomes impossible to trace through an issue and it's solution. Just a thought for your consideration. I'm not going to comment on any other issues that you raise. Craig -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.