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Today I received a response to one of my postings addressed directly to me,
but with a cc to the tech writer list.
I appreciate the thought behind that practice, but it has a downside that
the sender may not have thought of.
I subscribe to the tech writer list, so I get the message twice. That's not
a big deal for me, but it might bother someone who had to pay for every
message received.
Also, I have a pretty fast modem, but some folks get their mail over slower
connections. The less the better for them.
I'm on so many mailing lists that I receive over a hundred messages every
day. One more makes little difference. Some folks, however, resent "clutter"
in their mailboxes.
Finally, while it's not the same as wasting paper, it does waste a small
amount of energy. Producing that energy probably polluted our planet in some
small way.
So, while I appreciate the courtesy, if your reply is of general interest I
think a better practice would be to post only to the list. You can start
your posting with "Dear Richard" if you like. ...RM
Richard Mateosian Technical Writer in Berkeley CA srm -at- c2 -dot- org
