You wrote: > This may be a very basic question, and if so, I apologize for > taking up people's time, but I'm confused about "replying" to > postings on the list. On the other mailing lists I subscribe to, > replies to a posting are sent to the mailing list itself. When I > hit "reply" to a message on the SPSS list, however, the address > that appears is the originator's, not the mailing list's, and > indeed, when I look at the "reply to" in the header information on > the messages, it gives the individual's name only. If that's the > case, does everyone who posts replies to the list manually type in > the list address?

You have noted an irritating point with me. This list is configured with the "reply to:" as going to the originator; not the list. Most maillists are configured so that the "reply to:" sents to the list and the list distributes mail to the subscribers. The "work around" is to "reply all:" and that will send to originator and cc: addresses. The downside of this is many mailers don't distinguish between "reply to:" and "reply all:".

> > I've wondered about this for a while, but am prompted to ask after > sending two messages to the list yesterday and getting "personal" > responses asking, among other things, to unsubscribe the sender. > Presumably the people just hit "reply", and the messages came to > me. > Just doing a straight "reply to:" does bypass the list. That means all questions are posted to everyone; however, answers are only received by the originator. All subscribers do not benefit from the knowledge available.

> (I also got two messages from "Mail AutoResponder > <anakinlead@infofree.com", subject line "This is the information > you wanted", offering me some sort of "business opportunity" for > $29. I assure you I did not ask for any such info, but > coincidentally, these two items each arrived about half an hour > after I'd send messages to the list. Has anyone else received > these?) > Those are typical "spamm" messages that are making the rounds of the Internet. They probably have no connection to your posting to the list. Your e-mail address was captured and is on a list for automatic distribution. I receive a few on accasion to this account. They are more prevelant with aol or other on-line service accounts. It is a bother; however, "delete" is a mouse click away.

> Can someone enlighten me about the behaviour of "reply to"? >

I hope this answers your "reply to:" question!

John Stewart Information Systems Security SUPSHIP San Diego