From: "W. Kent Starr" <elderburn@...>
Date: 2001-12-29T06:11:39+09:00
Subject: [ruby-talk:29586] Re: New Rubygarden poll

Dave Thomas wrote:
> 
> "Hal E. Fulton" <hal9000@hypermetrics.com> writes:
> 
> > At any rate, I would like to see the message number remain easily
> > accessible. If it has to be moved, I would favor the end of the
> > subject line or the first line of the body.
> >
> > As for a header: Well, you may flame me, hate me, or denigrate me,
> > but my most commonly used email client is Outlook Express.
> 
> >From what I understand, as an Outlook user you currently don't get
> proper threading of mailing list messages. With the numbers removed,
> threading should start working. So you have a tradeoff between the
> convenience of threading and the convenience of being able to see a
> message number quickly.
> 
> You usage patterns are probably different to mine, but I _rely_ on
> threading when reading the ML: the group would be hard to manage
> without it. However, I very rarely use the message numbers (perhaps
> once a week). So, if I understand the Outlook experience correctly,
> moving the numbers from the start of the subject would greatly benefit
> me if I were an Outlook user.
> 
> So, when _do_ I use a message number? Normally when pointing someone
> to an old message that I found by searching the archives. In those
> cases, the message number is obvious anyway: blade displays it all
> over the place.
> 
> So I'm wondering: do we _really_ need to have the message number
> anywhere in the subject line or in the message body? Is overcoming the
> inconvenience of clicking a couple of times in Outlook to find the
> header line really worth the ugliness of the extra graffiti?
> 
> Dave

FWIW I ~like~ the message numbers. When they are referenced in the text
of a message, I just scroll down my message list to find it. Works for
me :-)
(They also give a quick and dirty approximation of how old the
referenced message is relative to the current one referencing it)

OTOH this is not ~that~ important to ~me~ such that I would vehemently
object to changes if they are a real PITA to others.

Regards,

Kent Starr
elderburn@mindspring.com