> Managing a list with 1500 subscribers and over 20 messages per working
> day, having auto-delete processing saves me time, ultimately, by not
> having to making a decision of
>
> .  is this a DNS convergence/synchronization problem
> .  is this a DNS availability problem
> .  is this a mailer problem
> .  is this a bitnet node problem
> .  is this a userid authentication problem
> .  is this a SENDMAIL configuration problem
> .  is this really a no-longer existent userid
 
Your list-management style is quite different from mine. :-)  I thought
DNS had to do with blood... or maybe I'm getting that mixed up with DNA...
My philosophy is quite simple.  If the error messages are for ADS-L, which
has very light traffic (average of under 30 messages a day is my definition
of light traffic), I usually do nothing.  If the error messages are of the
'unknown user' variety, persist for several days, and are for somebody I've
never heard of, I delete the person.  If the error messages are for WORDS-L,
a busy list, I set the person to nomail.  I remind the list from time to
time to check their settings if they suddenly stop receiving mail.  Sometimes
I say something on the list about setting somebody to nomail if it's an
active participant since often people check the list on usenet if they're
not getting their regular list mail.  That way they realize what has happened
and send the 'mail' command.
 
This explanation of what I do looks much more complicated than doing it.
It's really very simple.  If WORDS-L subscribers declared 'unknown' by
listserv really are unknown, their subscriptions will be zapped at renewal
time.
   --Natalie ([log in to unmask])
 
P.S. I highly recommend having all error messages filtered into a separate
file.  I wonder how I managed back in the old days when I would sometimes
log on after being away from my computer for several hours and find 200
error messages sprinkled in among real mail.  Now it's easy to find the
offending address(es) and block delete the rest of the error messages.