Hello Stan,

>>Is there no possible escape from ALL:  ?

> There's always NOMAIL.

> Do you want to do something that NOMAIL won't accomplish?

> Stan

I wished to turn off ALL: and then add one or two
specific Topics to receive, (but not receive postings sent to ALL:)

 Yet even before getting around to adding some topics, I still in one
sense remain on ALL:

that is,
  on the one subscription,
 even after sending command
       SET baba Topics: -ALL

 I continue to get any messsages prefixed by ALL:
  although ALL is not one of the Topics I want.

I think ALL should not have two meanings.   If one wants ALL:
and toggles it on, then
ALL: (all topics) gets turned on, and the proof of that would be that ones gets
messages posted to ALL: as well as to any other Topic,

  but if one doesn't want "ALL:"
and thus sets  Topics: -ALL
   then why should ALL:   continue to come thru?
 [ either before or after I have later sent command to merely add the one
or two topics I do wish to receive. ]

 Essentially I think ALL:  presents as double meaning, and is
illogical because they clash.  I thought the guy had his list set up
incorrectly and that he has a wonky idea of how ALL: worked, but on
looking into the issue, it does seem that ALL:  means both
[1] 'Will be Sent to everyone except those on NoMail'
  and
[2] 'to subscibe/unsubscribe to ALL Topics' (done by sending Command to
Set Topics (=/-)ALL:  )

It kinda gives the sense that ALL: could be optional - that is, one
can actually unsubscribe from ALL:   but this unsubscribing from ALL:
only works in the second of the two senses, because I still get
messages prefixed by ALL:  even though I have turned ALL:   off via
   Set Baba Topics: -All

So (the manual) saying that ALL: is a 'special' topic is misleading, as it is not
actually a topic at all - it is something that over-rides topics.

 So I posted to seek reassurance that I have this correct, and that
the list is not actually set up incorrectly,

 as I would like to see
ALL: as merely an indication that one is subscribed to ALL:
  thus for example, there are 5 or 6 specific topics

Books, Music, Computers, Clocks, Dogs, (Other)
then a messages sent to ALL: would mean the message gets sent to people who
are currently subscribed to all those  topics.  If they are not
subscribed to all those topics (perhaps only 4 of them)
 then they should not get a message using the ALL: prefix.

Note:  I only have one subscription to the list in question, and there
is no super-list in place (that is, it is a normal list)

Thanks for listening.   :-)
--
Best regards,
 rellieb-jean      mailto:[log in to unmask]