It has long been considered polite to end a direct email
in addition to a 'list' email. This is especially true
for replies to usenet posts. Why?
Lists: Many read in digest mode. It's nice to see the reply
straight away. Some forward list mail to a home or office
machine and personal email to a portable device. Again,
it's nice to have a direct reply.
Usenet: Because of the propagation delays in news, it's
polite because it minimizes the delay and allows a timely
counter.
In the old days of the internet, mail could take days
and usenet could take weeks to update. These days, it's
not that big a deal. Girls don't curtsey anymore so
I suspect the practice will fade away eventually.
I've been active on the internet since the DARPA
net days, over 20 years, so you can believe me :-)
73,
Bob ah7i
P.S.
This particular list is configured so the <reply to>
field reflects the address of the poster. This serves to enforce the old
ettiquette by taking advantage of mans
natural tendency toward laziness as it's easier to
'reply all' and hit send than to 'reply all' and then
edit the <to> field. Other lists are set up with the list
address in the <reply to> field.
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