[math-fun] Meta question: subject line tags
As many of you know, I'm no fan whatsover of those [LIST] subject line tags -- my email client handles that kind of info just fine for me, but folk seem to like the [go figure..:o)] and so I tolerate. Recently I've been trying to figure out why the threading is messed up on some threads here on math-fun and I just saw the culprit: the location of the subject tag on [some] replies. Most replies to the list are properly tagged: Subject: Re: [math-fun] Skolem-like primes sequence with the 'Re' at the beginning of the subject line, with the rest of the subject line intact [as per the RFC]. BUT.. several of the replies on this thread have the subject line: Subject: [math-fun] Re: Skolem-like primes sequence Which is *NOT* correct [the RFC says that the 'Re' on replies should come at the *beginning* of the subject line]. And so my [RFC compliant] email client correctly decides that that's the start of a separate thread and breaks the threading. Anyone know how that happens [and what if anything, can be done to make it stop]??? /Bernie\ -- Bernie Cosell Fantasy Farm Fibers mailto:bernie@fantasyfarm.com Pearisburg, VA --> Too many people, too few sheep <--
On 9/18/06, Bernie Cosell <bernie@fantasyfarm.com> wrote:
Which is *NOT* correct [the RFC says that the 'Re' on replies should come at the *beginning* of the subject line].
Which RFC is that, please? I'm on another list where the same problem is occurring, and I'd like to point him to the right place. -- Mike Stay metaweta@gmail.com http://math.ucr.edu/~mike
On 18 Sep 2006 at 17:38, Mike Stay wrote:
On 9/18/06, Bernie Cosell <bernie@fantasyfarm.com> wrote:
Which is *NOT* correct [the RFC says that the 'Re' on replies should come at the *beginning* of the subject line].
Which RFC is that, please? I'm on another list where the same problem is occurring, and I'd like to point him to the right place.
RFC 2822. Note that it does say "may": The "Subject:" field is the most common and contains a short string identifying the topic of the message. When used in a reply, the field body MAY start with the string "Re: " (from the Latin "res", in the matter of) followed by the contents of the "Subject:" field body of the original message. If this is done, only one instance of the literal string "Re: " ought to be used since use of other strings or more than one instance can lead to undesirable consequences. but every email client since the very first on TENEX has adhered to that convention. It is only somewhat recently [I suspect, with the rise of these subject-tagged mailing lists -- I *knew* subject tagging was a bad idea from the start...:o)] that these tag-first-re:-later non-compliant subject lines have started appearing. /Bernie\ -- Bernie Cosell Fantasy Farm Fibers mailto:bernie@fantasyfarm.com Pearisburg, VA --> Too many people, too few sheep <--
But two different headings from the same responder suggest it might not be coming from the mail client; perhaps Frank or Richard could suggest the difference. franktaw@netscape.net Sunday, 7:22 PM -0400 5 Re: [math-fun] Collatz 3N+1 problems franktaw@netscape.net 2:51 PM -0400 4 [math-fun] Re: Skolem-like primes sequence Richard Guy 1:01 PM -0600 5 Re: [math-fun] Skolem-like primes sequence Richard Guy 1:17 PM -0600 5 Re: [math-fun] Skolem-like primes sequence Richard Guy 1:28 PM -0600 4 [math-fun] Re: Skolem-like primes sequence But this isn't mathematics .. so perhaps not. -- Stan
On 18 Sep 2006 at 17:38, Mike Stay wrote:
On 9/18/06, Bernie Cosell <bernie@fantasyfarm.com> wrote:
Which is *NOT* correct [the RFC says that the 'Re' on replies should come at the *beginning* of the subject line].
Which RFC is that, please? I'm on another list where the same problem is occurring, and I'd like to point him to the right place.
RFC 2822. Note that it does say "may":
The "Subject:" field is the most common and contains a short string identifying the topic of the message. When used in a reply, the field body MAY start with the string "Re: " (from the Latin "res", in the matter of) followed by the contents of the "Subject:" field body of the original message. If this is done, only one instance of the literal string "Re: " ought to be used since use of other strings or more than one instance can lead to undesirable consequences.
but every email client since the very first on TENEX has adhered to that convention. It is only somewhat recently [I suspect, with the rise of these subject-tagged mailing lists -- I *knew* subject tagging was a bad idea from the start...:o)] that these tag-first-re:-later non-compliant subject lines have started appearing.
/Bernie\
-- Bernie Cosell Fantasy Farm Fibers mailto:bernie@fantasyfarm.com Pearisburg, VA --> Too many people, too few sheep <--
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-- Stan Isaacs 210 East Meadow Drive Palo Alto, CA 94306 stan@isaacs.com
Users can (and do) put whatever they like in the Subject line. Use the References tag as the main guide for threading. Hilarie
But when they do, their messages can (and do) wind up filed by the mailer in a separate thread, as this one has! WFL On 9/19/06, Hilarie Orman <hilarie@xmission.com> wrote:
Users can (and do) put whatever they like in the Subject line.
Use the References tag as the main guide for threading.
Hilarie
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* Fred lunnon <fred.lunnon@gmail.com> [Sep 20. 2006 16:09]:
But when they do, their messages can (and do) wind up filed by the mailer in a separate thread, as this one has! WFL
Stays in the thread (for me) because the one and only In-Reply-To: is correctly set and my mail user agent isn't broken. Thread hijacking and thread breaking make it hard to argue against death penalty and should therefor be avoided.
[...]
On 19 Sep 2006 at 0:47, Hilarie Orman wrote:
Users can (and do) put whatever they like in the Subject line.
This is pretty brash. Users *can* but every email client on the planet starts replies with "Re:", as per the RFC.
Use the References tag as the main guide for threading.
Doesn't work -- proper netiquette calls for breaking a thread when you mutate it. YOu see that frequently with: Subject: something new (was Re: something old) Very few users have a clue about tweaking those 'hidden' headers, but they do know (or learn) to fix the subject line when the actual subject changes. /Bernie\ -- Bernie Cosell Fantasy Farm Fibers mailto:bernie@fantasyfarm.com Pearisburg, VA --> Too many people, too few sheep <--
On 9/19/06, Hilarie Orman <hilarie@xmission.com> wrote:
Users can (and do) put whatever they like in the Subject line.
Use the References tag as the main guide for threading.
Hilarie
My mailer put this in a separate thread, and since there is no math in it, I will delete it as soon as I fininish typing this message. I liked email better in the 'old' days, circa 1990. Back then every message I typed looked the same as on every recipient's screen as it did on mine when I typed it. Now, even a message that I send to myself looks different when I receive it than when I sent it. I'm sure it looks fine for some recipients and terrible for others. Jim
participants (7)
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Bernie Cosell -
Fred lunnon -
Hilarie Orman -
James Buddenhagen -
Joerg Arndt -
Mike Stay -
Stan E. Isaacs