On 29.01.12 08:57, Kent A. Reed wrote:
> Erik:
>
> There's nothing secretive about "emc-developers". Anyone can subscribe
> to the list and anyone can peruse its archive of messages. (see the Wiki)
My point was not self-referential, it related to keeping the discussion
in front of all users. I feel that the user base should see what is
afoot, and throw roses or overripe fruit, as appropriate. Anyway, there
were just on 1200 emails waiting for me after a week and a half out on
the farm. Adding another list doesn't appeal much. (Unless this
lex/bison thing takes off this time round.)
> For me a bigger problem is the nature of email. We click "reply" and the
> subject line is copied over directly. This makes clear what message we
> are responding to but not what part of the message we are responding to.
Forgive me please, for pointing out that only fullquoters cause this
problem. Anyone who makes the effort to selectively cut all but the
minimum relevant quote, as you have efficiently done, makes entirely
explicit what he's responding to. In-line replies do too, just with much
more effort on the part of maybe several hundred readers.
> By the second reply, it isn't even clear which message, the original or
> one of its replies, is being responded to. Case in point: I am talking
> about administrative functioning of the email lists in response to a
> point you raised in your message about "question of gcode parsing." This
> kind of cloaking happens daily, where the content of a series of replies
> may wander all over the map while the subject line stays distressingly
> constant.
If we use threaded mail readers, then threads are presented groupwise.
In a thread of 100 posts, I see clearly who replied to whom, on what
date, and at what time. Any two-party ping-pong, or a flurry of replies
to Viesturs stand out clearly.
And if we make the effort to update the subject line, as I have done,
then the post is still presented in the thread by my mailreader, but
the subject immediately identifies it as a digression. There being no
cloaking, recipients are then empowered to skip it, unread.
To my vim I've added a mapping so that an Alt-W brackets the existing
subject with "[Was: " and "]", leaving the cursor in front of the first
automatic insert, so that I only need to type the new subject. Such
convenience helps me maintain the discipline of keeping the subject
header relevant. (Memory permitting.)
> The real world of information and its classification is considerably
> messier than the theoretical one. Sigh.
The only thing which really throws me on this list is posts which fail
to quote the text to which they're replying. Separating what should have
been quoted, and what is reply, is then quite difficult.
My mailreader lets me skip monstrous fullquotes with a keystroke, and a
plug-in helps a bit as well.
Oh, and if a thread is clearly not up my alley, then I can delete all
its posts with one double keystroke. Judicious choice of
mailreader/editor, customised for individual convenience, makes the task
of catching up on 1200 posts much more manageable.
Erik
--
Do not do unto others as you would they should do unto you.
Their tastes may not be the same.
- George Bernard Shaw
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