Hi Jean,
I think that sometimes there's is no substitute for a response from a
particular individual, perhaps because of their expertise or keenness
for some issue. Somehow you have to cut through the blizzard of Derby
mail which buries all of our mailboxes. I don't see the point in being
coy about whose feedback you're seeking. To my way of thinking, naming
someone in the subject line is preferable to back-channel communication
and also to losing your query through the cracks. I have seen this
technique work on other large mailing lists. Sometimes you get a
response from a colleague telling you that the person you're trying to
reach is on vacation or otherwise unreachable. That's useful to know.
I understand your concern about people feeling cornered, but I think
that's part of the price you pay for being an expert. Personally, I
don't feel put off by these direct pages and I don't feel excluded from
responding if I have something to say. Also, I am not a big fan of
addressing people in the third person or through other indirection.
Both approaches (direct paging and indirect fishing) can be off-putting
in their own ways. I don't know how to fine-tune this, particularly
given all the warmth and emotional cues we lose by communicating through
email.
Regards,
-Rick
Jean T. Anderson wrote:
derby-dev seems to have developed a curious habit of sometimes naming
specific individuals in the subject line of posts. I find it a bit
jarring and suggest that we stop doing this. --Feel free to disagree and
post so we can discuss.
Naming somebody directly in the subject might inhibit others from
contributing, thinking that somehow the named individual "owns" that
topic. Even if that individual *does* own some aspect of that topic, for
example is a known subject matter expert or has assigned him or herself
to a Jira issue, then it might make that individual feel cornered.
Instead, think up a really snappy Subject line that is sure to get the
attention of all the "right" parties.
Don't forget that these posts live in the Apache mail archives forever
and also get mirrored at www.nabble.com, news.gmane.org, and who knows
wherever else.
-jean
