On Friday, 1 August 2025 19:14:50 CEST Lyndon Nerenberg (VE7TFX/VE6BBM) wrote: > We have had the List-ID header for 24 years now. Any MUA or MDA > that can filter on "[xxx]" in the subject header can filter on > "<xxx>" in the List-ID header. The need for the [xxx] Subject > prefix tags expired long ago. > > The tags are quite annoying, in that they push the actual Subject > header text off the screen. This is especially true for lists with > long names, and is compounded when a message from > [this-is-a-verbosely-named-list] is forwarded to [this-is-another- > list-with-a-chatty-name]; pretty soon the Subject text is rendered > invisible. > > It's time the IETF retired those prefix tags from all of its > mailing lists. > > --lyndon Seen this before, with more extreme examples going as far as Re: [Ext] RE: [External] Fwd: [Recentattendees] Subject. It's not just IETF list identifiers, it's also corporate classification by their own mailers. Granted, I do like those prefixes. They allow me to more easily see which list a given email was sent to, while my MUAs do not always show me List-Id. Kmail does, and that's where I generally interact with these emails from (including this one). But e.g. Apple Mail does not. It just shows me Lyndon Nerenberg to ietf@xxxxxxxx, and that's it. It doesn't even show those callsigns, which I think is a shame. They deserve to be seen. Anyway, for sorting email, what I do myself is to give everyone that asks for an email, one encoded as [provider goes here]@nixmagic.com. So that's how ietf@xxxxxxxxxxxx came to be. That can just as well be sorted on.. but that's local policy, which not everyone uses. That it more or less requires catch-all or very hands-on server management is a major turn-off, and rightfully so. Most people just stick with one email address for the most part instead. Locally, we can enact all the policies we want, and then try to remain compatible with everyone else that does the same. I think these subject injections should be treated as token gestures of kindness, that make it easier for everyone to use that as a sorting anchor if they don't have one of their own. And considering that just about every mailing list does this, not just IETF's... Probably a bit of an uphill battle? -- Met vriendelijke groet, Michael De Roover Mail: ietf@xxxxxxxxxxxx Web: michael.de.roover.eu.org Activisme is pas nuttig, wanneer het kan bereiken wat het wenst te bereiken, binnen de limieten van het huidige systeem. De rest is geschiedenis. -- vim@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
