my protest

[Gail E. Kampmeier]

While what you state is a reasonable explanation of why TAXACOM is
configured this way, I think that Bill has a point that many times people
hit their reply button without thinking and end up only replying to the
person posting and not the list.  This can tend to shut down a discussion
(OK, maybe some discussions could use more of this ;-)

But Doug's point is well taken about autoresponders.  I think either some
listmoms sieve these out (potentially quite a job) or servers can be
configured to sift out the ping pong of autoresponders, but that requires
time and effort that may not be available.

Perhaps we should all remind ourselves to be aware of the problem and check
to whom we are responding.

Cheers!
Gail

P.S. Just like I had to do just now--yikes!

>Bill Shear wrote:
>
>[protest of default return-to-poster setting on Taxacom]
>
>It should be no problem if you have Taxacom set on your pop-up address
>list, as I'm sure many of us do. I just hit the "reply to" function and
>select Taxacom. Same with Ecolog-L and some others I subscribe to.
>Most significantly, however, is that it is configured this way NOT to
>prevent accidental personal messages, but to prevent those godawful
>automated "out-of-office" and other bounceback notices from being posted to
>the entire list. Or does everyone here REALLY want to receive notice that
>Joe Blow will be away on vacation, or that his address is no longer valid,
>every time ANYONE posts to the list? Moreover, this can create infinite
>loops, when Joe Blow's autoresponder responds to its own bounceback, ad
>nauseum.
>The *correct* default setting for mailing lists is what Taxacom has now,
>for precisely this reason.
>
>Peace,
>
>
>Doug Yanega        Dept. of Entomology         Entomology Research Museum
>Univ. of California - Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521
>phone: (909) 787-4315 (standard disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's)
>                http://insects.ucr.edu/staff/yanega.html
>  "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
>        is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82

=======
Gail E. Kampmeier, Research Entomologist, Illinois Natural History Survey,
Box 5 NSRL-EASB, MC-637, 1101 W. Peabody, Urbana, IL 61801 USA
ph. 217-333-2824; fax 217-333-6784; email: gkamp at uiuc.edu
=======