Tres Seaver [mailto:tseaver@palladion.com] wrote:
I'd go further: unless you have a really compelling reason (like a security hole), asking for help on a list without being willing to subscribe to it (in digest, if you like) is rude. Among other problems (like "my bandwidth is more important than yours, even though I'm the one asking for help"), if you don't read the list, you'll likely miss the three times this week your question was answered.
The classic formula, used to minimize endless requotes of the question, was "Reply directly to me and I will summarize results to the list." Of course nobody has every heard of such a thing nowadays. :) Unfortunately it also no longer makes sense to require that someone receive a list like 'Zope' as individual or digested email messages in order to participate, since the Web-based Egroups interface is more convenient for quite a few people. That is still no excuse for demanding private replies on grounds that you don't read the list! in fact it works quite the other way because the Web index lets you read just what you're interested in rather than wading through other content (and maybe learning something). So I guess the moral of the story is that members should have the elementary courtesy to spend a little time reading a list that they're expecting to answer their questions. Answers don't grow on trees, they come from people who care enough to read and help, and you, Dear Reader, should do the same. If a question is an outright poll, then it's appropriate to ask for private replies and offer to summarize to the list afterwards ("What's your favorite Zope product? Replies to me, I'll summarize results.")