Jonathon,
On June 29, I sent you the following message (to protect the privacy of
the other people I sent it to, I will remove the corresponding parts):
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Date: Wed, 29 Jun 1994 18:48:05 +0200
From: Eric Thomas <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: LISTSERV
To: [log in to unmask], (...)
BITNIC just sent me a list of LISTSERV nodes they will be deleting from
9407, and this includes TRINITY and (...) Once you lose BITNET
connectivity, many LISTSERV functions will stop working, and in fact your
free licenses for LISTSERV and LMail will expire. L-Soft can offer two
solutions: LISTSERV-TCP/IP, which is the same VM LISTSERV you have been
using, but with the ability to operate properly without NJE, and unix or
VMS versions of LISTSERV, if you wish to migrate away from VM.
LISTSERV-TCP/IP causes little or no disruption to your users, beyond that
experienced from the loss of SENDFILE, and from a technical perspective
it is the best short-term solution. You can later migrate to VMS or unix
when the corresponding LISTSERV versions reach the same level of
functionality as the VM version, in about 12-18 months, and thus minimize
overall disruption. It may, of course, be your official policy to free
all VM investments now. In that case, the least disruptive solution is to
migrate to the VMS or unix version of LISTSERV. I assume you are leaving
CREN as well as BITNET. In that case you can purchase an indefinite
license for the SunOS, AIX or BSDi version of LISTSERV plus one year of
service for $2,000.00. This will allow you to migrate your lists and
archive file with a simple FTP command, and the users may not see the
difference, as long as they don't try to use the database functions, or
AFD/FUI (which are not available with competing products either).
Switching to Majordomo or another free list manager will cost you a lot
more than $2k in migration effort, troubleshooting, helpdesk calls, user
re-training, and so on. You can get a free evaluation copy of the unix
(and soon VMS) versions of LISTSERV by anonymous FTP from FTP.SPC.EDU, CD
LISTSERV.
Eric
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Trinity chose not to purchase any of the products in question. This is
your prerogative and I have no problem with that. You are, however, now
using LISTSERV illegally, past the expiration of your free license. You
have been explicitly warned that your license would expire upon leaving
BITNET, and it is of course stated in the license agreement that came
with the software. Please terminate any and all use of LISTSERV on your
VM system immediately, or we will have no option but to invoice you for
the license you are using, and taking all necessary steps to collect this
money from your organization. Thank you.
Eric
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