It seems to me that most people who use Bitnet don't know how to use
LISTSERV very well, judging by the number of them who send their
subscription requests to the list address (with the wrong syntax,
usually).  Given that LISTSERV has to communicate with people on many
different machines, I think that it has as good a user interface as
we could reasonably expect it to have.  But many people seem to have
trouble figuring it out.  Subscribers to my list often ask me how
to get archives for the list, or how to unsubscribe.  Yes, they got
a message when they subscribed that explained all that, but it seems
that they didn't realize they'd need to keep it around for future
reference.  Also, you have to be familiar with LISTSERV to know how
to get a list of lists.  (The procedure for getting a list of Internet
lists is even more obscure.)  There are probably a lot of people out
there who would be interested in subscribing to your list or my list,
but don't know that a list on this or that topic exists.  Furthermore,
there's no standard way for people to find out that LISTSERV exists in
the first place, or that things like a list of lists would be
available.  The bottom line seems to be that if you're familiar with
networks and servers, you'll do all right; if you've never used a
computer before, you'll probably pick up what information you can
(much of it incorrect) from other users around you, and even after a
year you probably won't know how to take full advantage of what
LISTSERV offers.
 
I think that Bitnet needs a user interface similar to that of Usenet.
People on Unix systems connected to Usenet can very easily find out
which newsgroups are available to them; they can peruse back issues
of these newsgroups, and subscribe to them if they wish, all without
having to order any documentation from obscure servers.  The software
lets you know what your options are, and prompts you for them at
appropriate times.
 
I don't know whether I'm enough of a programmer to do it, but I think
that similar software could be written for systems on Bitnet.  A few
different implementations might be enough to allow this software to
run on most of the mainframes and minis on the network.  The program
could be menu-driven; it would maintain a list of lists and their
descriptions, and would send appropriate messages to the necessary
LISTSERVs (whose addresses the user would never have to know) for
subscription, unsubscription, access to archive files, and the like.
It would decipher LISTSERV-Punch format.  Like the Usenet software,
it would interface with your favorite word processor and take care of
sending your messages to the right addresses.  Such a user interface
could bring Bitnet lists to a wider audience, and save everyone a lot
of confusion.
 
Does anyone else feel that this would be possible and valuable?  Does
anyone here have the know-how to do it?
 
--Ben