Brenda Hutchins (AUTOCAT) and I have been discussing possible reasons
some people can't get commands sent to listserv@uvmvm to work.  As one
possible explanation, I composed the following.  I would appreciate comments
and  corrections before I post to AUTOCAT.  Thanks.
Douglas Winship   Austin, Texas  [log in to unmask]
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Dear AUTOCAT Folk;
 
    Some people have complained that they can't get the commands to work,
yet they're sure they did everything correctly.  The problem may be that
the command was sent with the wrong name.
 
    Always keep in mind you are dealing with a computer program (Revised
List Processor), not a human. The program has two names for e-mail purposes,
listserv and autocat.  What RLP does with the mail depends on which name
you address it by.  If it goes to listserv it *is* a command to be acted
upon.  If it goes to autocat it *is* mail to be distributed.  That's what
the program says and that's what it does.
 
    To RLP I am not Douglas Winship, nor is my wife Carol Winship.  We
are both [log in to unmask] .  That is how RLP knows us because that is
the subscription name.  If I send a command from [log in to unmask], it
will work (if I get the command right).  However, if I send the command
from [log in to unmask] I will get back the message I have no subscription
and no action will be taken on the command.  Anything that changes the
"From" on my mail (such as going through a LAN mailer rather than the
main frame mailer) will cause this.  The command isn't comming from
[log in to unmask] so it isn't valid.
 
    AUTOCAT is an open, unmoderated list.  That means anyone can post
messages, anyone can search the database, etc.  You may do this from
any address.  However, to change the settings for your subscription,
you *must*, so far as I know, write from the address you subscribed
from. So far as RLP is concerned, that address *is* you.
 
    There is another problem I know of.  Some of us work through rather
freewheeling systems.  At tenet (Texas Education Network) my mail can go
out as [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask]
tenet.edu or [log in to unmask]  By the same token, my mail
can be received by any of these.  I have absolutely no control over
which server sends my mail, nor whether the server name is added or not.
This means that when I send a command to listserv concerning my sub-
scription, I just have to pray that it is sent the same way my subscription
was sent.  If it doesn't work, I'll just keep trying.  As a last resort
I can write to Brenda and beg her to do it for me.  If your system works
like ours, you're in the same boat.
 
Hope this helps.
 
Douglas Winship  Austin, Texas   [log in to unmask]