Subj : NNTP and To: field
To   : Digital Man
From : Accession
Date : Wed Nov 05 2025 17:08:18

Hey Digital!

On Tue, 04 Nov 2025 14:01:02 -0800, you wrote:

 >> Replies in echomail areas through Synchronet's NNTP server include
 >> "All" in the To: field. I had assumed this was standard behavior for
 >> SBBS, similar to the old NNTP-FTN gateways. (However, the REPLY
 >> kludge appears to be functioning correctly, allowing messages to be
 >> properly threaded.)
 >>
 >> After reviewing the source code of nntpservice.js, I discovered a
 >> function named getReferenceTo. If I'm not mistaken, this function
 >> should return the recipient's name, but it defaults to "All" when a
 >> recipient isn't found.
 >>
 >> Could it be that this function isn't working as intended?

 > If a recipient isn't found, "All" seems like a sensible default. Are you
 > saying the failure to find a recipient is a bug? Feel free to play with
 > it and offer up a patch if you have one.

I think what he was saying, is that even when there /is/ a recipient (doesn't just about every 'reply' message have a recipient?), it still uses "All" (and I don't disagree that is indeed how NNTP has always worked). I believe I came across that as well awhile back, and may have even tried to change "All" to 'hdr.to' or something (which of course didn't work because I don't know what I'm doing), but with Thunderbird and slrn I am able to stuff an "X-Comment-To" field into the headers so that they both reply to the specific person all of the time.

Regards,
Nick

.... Sarcasm: because beating people up is illegal.
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