I don't wanna get caught up in the spiral of silence, so I'll speak my mind. I prefer the new setting. As several members have noted, it's not a big deal to hit the reply all button. It has been a bit annoying, I have to say, when people set automatic vacation replies and then everybody gets these for every message anybody sends on the list. I had wanted to set an automatic reply recently and actually didn't because I knew this would happen on this list and didn't have time to figure out how to stop it from happening without missing out on the list messages. Again, I just don't think it's that big of a deal to hit reply all, and I think all members are capable of figuring out whether their message might be of benefit to others or if it's along the lines of "good to hear from you, hope all is well."
-- Rasha A. Abdulla, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Journalism and Mass Communication The American University in Cairo www.rashaabdulla.com