 | To: Jesus Jimenez <chemnix@BORDER.NET>
Subject: Your message to L-FORWARDLOOK-request@LISTS.PSU.EDU
From: "L-Soft list server at Penn State (1.8c)" <LISTSERV@LISTS.PSU.EDU>
Date: Mon, 8 Mar 1999 23:50:17 -0500
Mon, 8 Mar 1999 23:50:17
Your message to L-FORWARDLOOK-request@LISTS.PSU.EDU has been forwarded to
the "list owners" (the people who manage the L-FORWARDLOOK 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 L-FORWARDLOOK list is managed by a LISTSERV server. LISTSERV commands
should always be sent to the "LISTSERV" address, ie
LISTSERV@LISTS.PSU.EDU. LISTSERV never tries to process messages sent to
the L-FORWARDLOOK-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 LISTSERV@LISTS.PSU.EDU. 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 LISTSERV@LISTS.PSU.EDU and, in the text of your message (not the
subject line), write: SIGNOFF L-FORWARDLOOK
********************
* TO JOIN THE LIST *
********************
Write to LISTSERV@LISTS.PSU.EDU and, in the text of your message (not the
subject line), write: SUBSCRIBE L-FORWARDLOOK
************************
* FOR MORE INFORMATION *
************************
Write to LISTSERV@LISTS.PSU.EDU 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.
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