From: Todd Benson <caduceass@...>
Date: 2007-09-07T18:02:48+09:00
Subject: Re: subject line

On 9/7/07, Altay Guvench <aguvench@gmail.com> wrote:
> I've got an idea.  Forgive me if this issue has been resolved, or if this
> idea has been suggested before.  This thread is really long and mostly
> irrelevant to the initial question, so I haven't read it all.  But here's
> what I understand:
>
> - The main argument *against* prepending [RUBY] is that it pushes the
> subject line a few characters to the right.
> - The main argument *for* it is that a mail filter -- a computer, not a
> human -- can identify these emails by the subject line.
>
> So why not *append* [RUBY] to the subject?  That way, folks with skinny
> screens won't lose actual subject content (the only thing that gets pushed
> off the screen is the label), and folks who want to filter by subject can
> still do so.
>
> Unless there's some technical reason why this won't work, the only problem I
> see is aesthetic.  =P

The only benefit of preceding the subject with a [RUBY], as far as I
can tell, lies solely in aesthetics.  I can see why someone who
chooses to _not_ sequester away ruby emails might want to quickly
glance at the screen and visually see which emails are ruby/non-ruby.

For those who do filter and section their mail into their respective
bins, I would think that -- as others have mentioned -- it would be
trivial to sort by some other method than forcing redundant data into
the subject line.

I don't care either way, since I only use this email account for this list.

Todd