This has been addressed in the ILUG FAQ, which is
at http://www.linux.ie/ILUGfaq.html .
The reasons given for the way it is are:
1// It decreases the likelihood that people will mistakenly send personal
mails to the entire list.
2// It's easy to resend a message to the list when you accidentally send it
to only one person. Unsending a personal mail that you've accidentally sent
to the whole list however is a bit more tricky...
3// It's generally considered to be a Bad ThingTM. See
http://www.unicom.com/pw/reply-to-harmful.html for details.
4// A decent mailer should allow you to reply to the list or the sender. If
yours doesn't then change it.
5// The list maintainer wants it that way. When you run your own mailing
list you can set the reply-to headers to be whatever you want.
#-----Original Message-----
#From: McDaid, Aaron [mailto:Aaron.McDaid at compaq.com]
#Sent: 02 May 2000 17:27
#To: Ilug (E-mail)
#Subject: [ILUG] fixing Ilug's addressing
#
#
#I find it somewhat confusing when one
#doesn't know whether or not a reply
#to an ILUG post should be "reply-to-all"
#or just send the mail to ilug at linux.ie
#
#The latter would cause anyone not on the
#list to miss out (obviously!). This could
#happen if the original poster was not on
#the list (unlikely I suppose) or maybe
#if someone on-list sent the mail to a friend
#because they may be interested in the rest of
#that thread.
#
#The former just means one could end up getting
#the same mail twice (or more !? )
#
#What about "reply-to-all" being the official
#way, and the list software not forwarding
#on mails to people on the list who are already
#in the To: or Cc: fields? This would play havoc
#with my filters mind you (based on recipient, not
#subject line - anyone know how to set this up in
#Outlook 2K btw?)
#
#Any smarter ways? Or should I wait until flying
#pigs have been created ;)
#
#--
#Irish Linux Users' Group: ilug at linux.ie
#http://www.linux.ie/mailman/listinfo/ilug for (un)subscription
#information.
#List maintainer: listmaster at linux.ie
#
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