From: Bill Stewart <bstewart@iname.com>
To: cygwin@cygwin.com
Subject: Re: Two naive questions
Date: Mon, 20 Apr 2020 11:41:32 -0600 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <CANV9t=R1URyQBV4PQR+neua7ZEahS1TA496MASRn6BRZ4OpcDQ@mail.gmail.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20200420172017.GA17660@iguana.crashland.org>
On Mon, Apr 20, 2020 at 11:20 AM Stephen Carrier wrote:
> I think the OP's first question was asking how to effectively join
> an existing thread when one is browsing the recent archives and not
> subscribed to the list.
>
> Joining the list after seeing a question one would like to answer
> doesn't help, because the message you would like to respond to has
> already gone by.
>
> I think a good solution would be to get the message number from the web
> archive and request that a particular message be sent to you. Then you
> could respond to that message and join the thread properly.
>
> However, there doesn't seem to be a way to do that. I used to be notified
> how to retrieve messages I had missed (due to bouncing) but the method
> did not work. Furthermore, the mailman faq doesn't mention any way to
> do this.
I would say that this is a side-effect of using a mailing list when
what's really being asked for is a discussion forum.
A mailing list is convenient for self-subscription and replies, but
replying to a past message (one that's "already gone by" as stated
above) is not really possible (that I know of?). Starting a new
message to the list with an identical subject to an existing thread
doesn't reply to the existing thread but rather starts a new thread
with an identical subject (since the thread ID is different).
What I could suggest for this case is to start a new message and
provide a link to a web-based copy of the message that you're replying
to - this at least provides context, even though it starts a new
thread. (This, of course, depends on a web-based archive of past
messages.)
This exact problem is one of the main reasons why many organizations
prefer a web-based forum rather than a mailing list. (NNTP is a
possibility, but many [most?] organizations block NNTP access for
content management and security reasons.) One of the other main
reasons a web-based forum is preferable is that participants don't
have to store/delete irrelevant messages.
Bill
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2020-04-20 17:42 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 26+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2020-04-16 20:21 Fergus Daly
2020-04-17 5:10 ` Marco Atzeri
2020-04-17 11:17 ` Fergus Daly
2020-04-17 17:31 ` Brian Inglis
2020-04-17 17:49 ` Stephen Carrier
2020-04-17 18:16 ` Andrey Repin
2020-04-17 18:44 ` Brian Inglis
2020-04-20 17:20 ` Stephen Carrier
2020-04-20 17:41 ` Bill Stewart [this message]
2020-04-20 18:11 ` Eliot Moss
2020-04-20 18:51 ` Bill Stewart
2020-04-20 20:09 ` Christopher Faylor
2020-04-20 20:44 ` Bill Stewart
2020-04-20 23:51 ` Christopher Faylor
2020-04-21 16:47 ` Stephen Carrier
2020-04-22 9:57 ` Andrey Repin
2020-04-23 16:49 ` Stephen Carrier
2020-04-23 19:13 ` Christopher Faylor
2020-04-23 19:33 ` Christopher Faylor
2020-04-24 18:58 ` Stephen Carrier
2020-04-25 15:18 ` Christopher Faylor
2020-04-20 17:59 ` Brian Inglis
2020-04-20 20:14 ` Christopher Faylor
2020-04-21 18:33 ` Brian Inglis
2020-04-21 20:30 ` Mailing list musings (was Re: Two naive questions) Christopher Faylor
2020-04-19 2:58 ` Two naive questions Christopher Faylor
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