It's just possible that there are two files on LISTSERV's A disk that
have the same name.  Say for instance you have a README TEXT file and
another listowner has a README TEXT file.  LISTSERV doesn't call them
that--it assigns unique fileids when you update your filelist.  But
when a user asks for that README TEXT file, LISTSERV has no way to
know which filelist to pull it from unless the user says
 
GET README TEXT <listname>
 
That has always been my understanding of how this works; if I'm wrong
and Eric has changed something (or if I'm just flat wrong!), I'd love
to know the correct explanation.:)
 
BTW, the user <is> incorrect; canonically the command is as noted above.
 
Nathan