Quoting Gary (saclug@garymcglinn.com):
I've noticed that if I don't do a reply-all, my replies don't go to the list, only to the other party.
That usually isn't what I want.
Reply-all is everywhere and always the right choice for a public reply to a mailing list. Reply-sender is everywhere and always the right choice for a private reply offlist as a departure from a mailing list.
Blessedly, unlike some novice-centric mailing lists, lug-nuts doesn't screw around with the headers just so people unclear on how the real Internet works can use the wrong reply command and never learn the use of the correct one. Prior to 2001, there was a minority position, advanced by technophobes, that such screwing around with headers was The Right Thing.
In 2001, IETF ended the debate, with two RFCs clarifying that, no, that is not the correct use of that technology. And that was that.
Except, here we are, 21 years later, and even though the argument died and got buried, there's always someone wanting to resurrect it.
Thank you, Brian, for sticking to IETF standards.
http://linuxmafia.com/~rick/faq/netiquette.html#replyto http://linuxmafia.com/pub/skeptic/skeptic_faq.html#reply