Author Topic: What Happens with Bcc?  (Read 3254 times)

Re: What Happens with Bcc?
« Reply #25 on: 11 February, 2020, 08:35:22 am »
....then if E does "reply to all" then it will go To: "A" and CC: "B,C&D". So B,C&D will now know that E was probably bcc'd on the original email (or had it forwarded to them by someone, the quoting that the various clients use may make this more obvious - or not).

But B,C&D (or E) won't know F was also bcc'd on the original email unless F also replies to all (or somehow lets on they received the original).

Except most clients seem not to provide the "reply all" to a bcc (Notes & Gmail checked, Eudora behaviour dredged from memory banks, extrapolated from this limited data set)

Re: What Happens with Bcc?
« Reply #26 on: 11 February, 2020, 08:51:58 am »
....then if E does "reply to all" then it will go To: "A" and CC: "B,C&D". So B,C&D will now know that E was probably bcc'd on the original email (or had it forwarded to them by someone, the quoting that the various clients use may make this more obvious - or not).

But B,C&D (or E) won't know F was also bcc'd on the original email unless F also replies to all (or somehow lets on they received the original).

Except most clients seem not to provide the "reply all" to a bcc (Notes & Gmail checked, Eudora behaviour dredged from memory banks, extrapolated from this limited data set)

Those seem to be the exception.

Yahoo mail, Thunderbird, and my online mail client happily did the reply all to a bcc'd email.
"Yes please" said Squirrel "biscuits are our favourite things."

Re: What Happens with Bcc?
« Reply #27 on: 11 February, 2020, 09:21:00 am »
simply, no.

Could you explain please? Maybe I was not clear enough. It is E & F who should not reply to all if they wish to remain anonymous. B,C &D can reply to all if they wish, E&F will not receive anything and B, C&D will never know that E or F exists. Right?

OK. For starters, E will never, ever see F in your scenario, so will not know that F was on the address list. Next, you have to do more than reply all, as a bcc most implementations will not "Reply all" to any but the sender, you will have to add the B, C & D names manually (even if they are in the "To" field as opposed to cc). Not guaranteed, clearly, as it is in the software implementation but most mail clients will work as they are supposed to.

That's the little detail I was missing. Thank you!

A

Re: What Happens with Bcc?
« Reply #28 on: 11 February, 2020, 10:00:36 am »
....and apparently can't be trusted!

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: What Happens with Bcc?
« Reply #29 on: 11 February, 2020, 12:36:54 pm »
....and apparently can't be trusted!

Mail clients developed after about 1993 can't be trusted, generally.  They usually manage to support enough of the relevant protocols to send and receive mail, but their message-mangling features are largely down to the whim of the author.  Just look at the mess of how they handle replies to mailing lists[1], not to mention quoting.

Obviously the usual recourse is to blame Microsoft, but they're only the worst offender.

SMTP, well, the clue's in the name.  Nearly all the clever stuff is built on top.


[1] I'm in the "'correct' behaviour is bad" camp.  Users generally want the reply to go to the list, not the author.

quixoticgeek

  • Mostly Harmless
Re: What Happens with Bcc?
« Reply #30 on: 11 February, 2020, 12:46:06 pm »
Mail clients developed after about 1993 can't be trusted, generally.  They usually manage to support enough of the relevant protocols to send and receive mail, but their message-mangling features are largely down to the whim of the author.  Just look at the mess of how they handle replies to mailing lists[1], not to mention quoting.

Obviously the usual recourse is to blame Microsoft, but they're only the worst offender.

SMTP, well, the clue's in the name.  Nearly all the clever stuff is built on top.


[1] I'm in the "'correct' behaviour is bad" camp.  Users generally want the reply to go to the list, not the author.

Isn't that governed by the way the list is set up rather than just the email client. The mailing list can set the reply-to header to either be the list, another address, or the sender.

Are you sure about that 1993 cut off? That includes Pine, but Mutt falls just into the bad category...

J

--
Beer, bikes, and backpacking
http://b.42q.eu/

Re: What Happens with Bcc?
« Reply #31 on: 11 February, 2020, 01:01:16 pm »
As I minor thread derail, I used to distribute (and subsequently, re-sell) Eudora to clients, in the days before Qualcomm. As a result I still have a Eudora tote bag, used these days to stash bungees and tie downs.

And, from the coincidence bucket, it appears exactly 14 years since I switched to gMail.

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: What Happens with Bcc?
« Reply #32 on: 11 February, 2020, 01:16:07 pm »
Mail clients developed after about 1993 can't be trusted, generally.  They usually manage to support enough of the relevant protocols to send and receive mail, but their message-mangling features are largely down to the whim of the author.  Just look at the mess of how they handle replies to mailing lists[1], not to mention quoting.

Obviously the usual recourse is to blame Microsoft, but they're only the worst offender.

SMTP, well, the clue's in the name.  Nearly all the clever stuff is built on top.


[1] I'm in the "'correct' behaviour is bad" camp.  Users generally want the reply to go to the list, not the author.

Isn't that governed by the way the list is set up rather than just the email client. The mailing list can set the reply-to header to either be the list, another address, or the sender.

And that's bad for other reasons.  The whole thing is a bucket of spiders: http://david.woodhou.se/reply-to-list.html


Quote
Are you sure about that 1993 cut off? That includes Pine, but Mutt falls just into the bad category...

No.  I picked a number out of thin air from slightly before I first used internet email.