On Thu, 26 May 1994, Russell Nelson wrote:
 
> Actually, I was wrong.  According to Melvin, the LISTSERV will accept
> mail with a Sender: address that's on the list.  So, any software that
> sets the right Sender: will work so long as it's on the list.
>
>    Thanks. I have learned there is a good possibility of replies from
>    people who are not real subscribers to my list;
>
> But may I ask what you consider a "real subscriber"?
 
In view of the subscription service you propose to offer, you won't care
for my answer :-) To me, a real subscriber is one whose name I know from
my subscribers file and whose name is what Russell (that's Bertrand)
called a proper name (it refers to one and only one individual person).
The supposed ability to control a subscribers' list is what distinguishes
a "list" from a newsgroup. I don't want to run something inbetween (and
why, in view of the trouble it brings, listowners will opt to allow
postings from non-subscribers, I don't know).
 
I like the basic premiss of netting at my university, which is that
messages must be traceable to single individuals who own accounts. This
newsgroup distribution business seems uncontrollable in principle. And
I've spent some fascinated hours reading about those places that offer
anonymity to mailings. There appear to be loopholes wherever one turns,
but why make it easy for them?
 
One can't prevent redistribution by one's subscribers; it's distribution
back to the list by individuals who aren't named in the subscribers file
that is the negative focal point in building quality discussion.
 
I know that the list software allow a whole continuum of access, all the
way from closed, moderated and (I hear) SECRET lists, to those for which
subscription means nothing but assured delivery of postings.
 
 
            KENNETH BLACKWELL / The Bertrand Russell Archives
        McMaster University Library, Hamilton, ON, Canada L8S 4L6
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