Re: Bouncing replies [was: SQL standards in Mysql]

On 2008-02-22 21:34, Scott Marlowe wrote:

> Bouncing messages from a public list is kinda rude.
>
No more so, than sending two copies of your reply to me, because you
don't go up to your mailer's "To:" line and manually delete the extra
address (as I do on EVERY reply I send to this list).

In fact, if you do that, you won't get the bounce. I do it out of
consideration for others: since _I_ would prefer to not receive two
copies of replies, I assume that _others_ prefer the same. I don't whine
about it; I just do it.

So, in return for that consideration, I get your reply. How did getting
the bounce hurt you or your computer, or make any extra work for you,
more than I would have to do when I get a duplicate message????

Perhaps I've been working with computers too long. I've been PAID as a
full-time software developer for the past 40 years (45 if you count
part-time employment in college), and I'm AMAZED at the amount of
intolerance I see on the Internet with respect to eMails. Some people
whine because the reply is at the top of the message rather than at the
bottom. There are perfectly good reasons for replying at the top OR at
the bottom, depending upon the circumstances. Other people whine
because the sender does not wrap his/her eMail at 76 columns, or because
the eMail is ALL CAPS, or some other imagined slight. Being an
ADAPTABLE human being, rather than UPSET people who aren't similarly
inclined, I simply ADAPT to the environment in most cases.

In this particular case:

>
> Look, if you're going to send email to this list from an address that doesn't accept email from anything but this list, and since this list by default is a "reply to all" list (i.e. people hit reply to all) the LEAST you can do is reconfigure your Mail client to change the reply to field to point to whatever list it is you are sending to.
A good idea, but I use this eMail address to reply to multiple pgsql-xxx
lists. That would require a separate sender address for each list, but
I can do that if I'm really hurting other people. It just means that I
will have to delete the duplicate replies, rather than have to hear
about the problems (which have yet to be identified) the bounces causes
other people. I'll consider it.

> Or have the decency to program your MTA to just throw those messages away.
>
That's a universally discredited idea among mail administrators: You
either reject unwanted mail _during_the_SMTP_dialog_, or you forward it
on to the recipient. The former is strongly preferred for dealing with
spam (which is why I bounce non-list replies), to avoid the bandwidth,
storage, and other issues.

Now, for anyone who can't deal with the above, either:

1. don't reply to my posts;
2. edit the "To:" line in your replies to me; or
3. send me your eMail address and I will manually whitelist you (note
that the whitelisting will disappear if some spammer uses your eMail
address to circumvent the bounces). In fact, I'm surprised that
spammers don't already do that using one of the administrator accounts
here. My eMail address here has been one of the largest targets for the
spam my SMTP server rejects over the past few years, and I haven't even
been very active here.

Sincerely, Dean

--
Mail to my list address MUST be sent via the mailing list.
All other mail to my list address will bounce.