[Lex Computer & Tech Group/LCTG] Changing the subject of the email to change the thing you're talking about

[Ken Pogran]

(Replying to Steve, but starting a completely new thread for this discussion…)

 

Of course it’s not good practice to start a new discussion simply by REPLYing  to a message on some other topic—even though that may be the easiest way to send a message to the group.

 

But it’s also not sufficient to use REPLY but edit the Subject: line to change the topic.  Here’s why:

 

Email clients use several different methods to figure out how to group incoming messages in threads to show the user (assuming the user has configured their client to group messages in threads; some folks prefer to have each message shown individually).

 

The problem is that, while some email clients group messages together based on the text of the Subject: line, other clients group messages using clues in the message headers that you don’t usually see—in particular, the In-Reply-To: header line that points to a previous message in the thread. When an email client does that (which, technically, is the right way for a client to group messages, IMO), an email message created by a sender using REPLY but completely changing the subject line will still be threaded together with the messages with the original Subject: line.  The resulting presentation of the message thread to the recipient will look weird, with messages  with different Subject: lines grouped together, linked together by the hidden In-Reply-To threading.

 

The bottom line is: to start a new topic, always compose a new message from scratch; never do it be REPLYing to a previous message, even if you completely change the Subject: line!

Ken Pogran (who notes that email has come a long way since RFC-733)

 

 

On 8/24/24, 12:51 PM, "LCTG on behalf of Steve Isenberg via LCTG" <lctg-bounces+pogran=alum.mit.edu at lists.toku.us on behalf of lctg at lists.toku.us> wrote:

 

Gentlepeople,

Many of us use the subject of the email as a clue as to what it is talking about and to determine whether we want to bother reading it.

Therefore you can help those of us trying to sort the ones-worth-reading from the ones-going-to-trash by changing the subject to match content.

Thank you,

-steve

 

On Sat, Aug 24, 2024 at 11:28 AM ggamota--- via LCTG <lctg at lists.toku.us> wrote:

I have used Marc Sherman 781 662 4576

George

 

From: LCTG <lctg-bounces+ggamota=stma-llc.com at lists.toku.us> On Behalf Of larryjfreier--- via LCTG
Sent: Saturday, August 24, 2024 11:08 AM
To: 'Jonathan Goode' <jonathan.goode at gmail.com>; 'Lexington Computer Group New Address Distribution' <LCTG at lists.toku.us>
Subject: Re: [Lex Computer & Tech Group/LCTG] Meeting Reminder: Windows Package Manager, presented by Drew King. 10AM ET Wednesday, August 14, 2024. Lexington Computer and Technology Group

 

Would anyone be able to recommend an appliance service person? I believe my Maytag washing machine has sprung a leak. 

 

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