On Mon, 19 Jul 2004 19:30:59 -0500 "L-Soft list server at St. John's
University (1.8d)" <[log in to unmask]> writes:
> Mon, 19 Jul 2004 19:30:59
>
> Your   message   to  [log in to unmask]   has
> been
> forwarded  to the  "list owners"  (the  people who  manage the
> BLIND-DEV
> list).  If you  wanted  to reach  a  human being,  you  used the
> correct
> procedure and you  can ignore the remainder of this  message. If you
> were
> trying to send a command for the computer to execute, please read
> on.
>
> The BLIND-DEV  list is  managed by a  LISTSERV server.  LISTSERV
> commands
> should    always    be   sent    to    the    "LISTSERV"   address,
>   ie
> [log in to unmask] LISTSERV never  tries to process
> messages
> sent to the BLIND-DEV-request address; it simply forwards them to a
> human
> being, and acknowledges receipt with the present message.
>
> The "listname-request" convention originated on  the Internet a long
> time
> ago. At  the time, lists were  always managed manually, and  this
> address
> was defined as an alias for the  person(s) in charge of the mailing
> list.
> You would write to the  "listname-request" address to ask for
> information
> about the list, ask  to be added to the list,  make suggestions
> about the
> contents and policy, etc. Because this  address was always a human
> being,
> people  knew and  expected to  be  talking to  a  human being,  not
> to  a
> computer.  Unfortunately, some  recent  list  management packages
> screen
> incoming  messages  to  the  "listname-request" address  and
> attempt  to
> determine whether they are requests to  join or leave the list. They
> look
> for words such as "subscribe", "add",  "leave", "off", and so on. If
> they
> decide your message is  a request to join or leave  the list, they
> update
> the list automatically;  otherwise, they forward the message  to the
> list
> owners. Naturally, this means that if  you write to the list owners
> about
> someone else's  unsuccessful attempts to  leave the list, you  stand
> good
> chances of  being automatically removed  from the list, whereas  the
> list
> owners will never receive your message. No one really benefits from
> this.
> There is no  reliable mechanism to contact a human  being for
> assistance,
> and you can never  be sure whether your request will  be interpreted
> as a
> command or as a message to the list owners. This is why LISTSERV
> uses two
> separate addresses, one for the people in  charge of the list and
> one for
> the computer  that runs it.  This way you  always know what  will
> happen,
> especially if you are writing in a language other than English.
>
> In  any case,  if your  message was  a LISTSERV  command, you
> should now
> resend it  to [log in to unmask]  The list owners  know
> that
> you have  received this message and  may assume that you  will
> resend the
> command  on your  own. You  will find  instructions for  the most
> common
> administrative requests below.
>
> *********************
> * TO LEAVE THE LIST *
> *********************
>
> Write to [log in to unmask] and, in  the text of your
> message
> (not the subject line), write: SIGNOFF BLIND-DEV
>
> ********************
> * TO JOIN THE LIST *
> ********************
>
> Write to [log in to unmask] and, in  the text of your
> message
> (not the subject line), write: SUBSCRIBE BLIND-DEV
>
> ************************
> * FOR MORE INFORMATION *
> ************************
>
> Write to [log in to unmask] and, in  the text of your
> message
> (not the  subject line),  write: "HELP" or  "INFO" (without  the
> quotes).
> HELP will give you a short help  message and INFO a list of the
> documents
> you can order.
>
>