Subject: How do I know the receipient has read my email?

From: Kamlun Edwin LEE <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 17 Jun 1996 21:13:00 -0400 (EDT)

Dear Sir/Madam,

I don't know whether this is the place to ask this question but I believe 
that you could possibly help me with this.  What do I need to do with my 
setup as a PINE user to get a return note each time the receipient read 
my email? Long time ago when I was using the Mainframe instead of the 
PINE on Unix, I was able to just do that by setting a setup option.  But 
I cannot find the same in PINE.

Also, if I want to send the same message to a group of people and don't 
want to use "Cc:" for fear of offending those who are just on the Cc: 
list, can I create a dedicated address directory for such a group so that 
every time when I send a message to all the group members, I only need to 
input the directory name?

Thank you for your attention.

K. Edwin Lee

---

From: Mike Brudenell <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 18 Jun 1996 09:39:02 +0100 (BST)

> I cannot find the same in PINE.

There isn't a way for you to FORCE the recipient's mail software to return
an acknowledgement to you upon message receipt and/or reading.  At best
you can include some special headers in the message you send out that
REQUESTS their mail software to do so.

However many mail programs (including Pine) do not recognise or support
these headers in incoming messages, and take no special action when they
receive a message including them.  Other mail software may support the
headers, but have the response action disabled by the individual or system
administrator (perhaps because they view it as an invasion of their
privacy).

[I find it interesting that so many people want/expect such
acknowledements from e-mail they send out, but wouldn't expect such a
facility from letters sent through conventional postal mail!]

> input the directory name?

You need to read about "Distribution Lists" in Pine.  These are ways of
listing a number of e-mail addresses under a single nickname; by using the
nickname it expands out to the whole list of recipients.

The best way to use such a distribution list (especially to hide the fact
the you're "only" CC-ing people is:

0.  Use Pine 3.93 or later (3.94 is the current version).
1.  Start composing your message, but leave the "To:" and "Cc:" fields
    empty.
2.  Put the cursor on a header field and type ^R to see the Rich Header
    with all the available possible fields.
3.  Put your distribution list nickname into the "Lcc:" field.
4.  Now type your message into the Message Text area and send.

You can read more about distribution lists in the Address Book screen ("A"
from the Main Menu) by typing "?" there.

More information about "Lcc" is available by putting the cursor on the
"Lcc:" field and typing "^G" (Get Help). 

Cheers,

Mike Brudenell                                         <[email-masked]>
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