Two naive questions

[Bill Stewart]

On Mon, Apr 20, 2020 at 2:09 PM Christopher Faylor wrote:

> With mailman, if you click on a message in the archives and then click
> on the email address at the top, your mail client of choice will be
> opened with correct "In-Reply-To" set.  If you want to reply to the list
> then replace the "To" with the email address of the mailing list.  You
> can also download the mailbox-formatted archive, read it with a client
> like "mutt" and reply that way.

So it is _possible_, but not exactly user-friendly (you're presuming
that end-users even understand these instructions). What if a user is
limited to a web-based mail client, for example, and has no way to
access said options? (I think it goes without saying that a "use a
better mail client" response is not feasible, at least for some users,
in addition to possibly sounding a bit elitist.)

Aside from this, in my opinion, the above instructions are an awkward
(IMO) workaround due to limitations inherent in trying to use email
for something it wasn't really designed for (again: just my opinion).

> OTOH, most message boards have a way to freeze old discussions and
> discourage resurrecting dead threads.

That depends on who administers the forum. That's not necessarily an
inviolable rule.

Again - not trying to start a controversy here - just pointing out
that a mailing list has some limitations. (After all, web-based
discussion forums were invented for a reason.)

Bill