LISTSERV version  1.8a and LMail  version 1.2a, when  operating together,
extend the  "global list  exchange" support  (also known  as GLX)  to the
listname-request pseudo-address, and to  the new listname-server address.
Concretely, this means  that you can write to the  owners of any LISTSERV
list  without  having  to  know  where it  is  located,  with  the  usual
reservations about confidential lists and lists which are visible only to
local users.  For instance,  to send  mail to the  owners of  the INFOVAX
list,  you  could  write  to  [log in to unmask]  and  the
message will  be passed on to  the LISTSERV that actually  runs the list,
which will  in turn forward it  to the list owners.  Note that owner-xxxx
requests are  not forwarded  as this  mailbox is  normally used  only for
delivery errors. It is an anomaly  to receive a delivery error report for
a list you are not hosting, unless it has just been deleted, and it would
not be appropriate to silently toss the hot potato to another LISTSERV.
 
The new  listname-server convention can be  used to send commands  to the
LISTSERV  hosting the  list  without having  to know  where  the list  is
located.  While most  commands are  properly forwarded  when sent  to the
wrong server, certain commands like  GET requests for material maintained
by the list owner are only available from servers which actually host the
list, and cannot be forwarded properly  by the other servers as they only
represent a naming convention (that is,  there is no way for LISTSERV@XYZ
to know that 'GET CBPD13 MINUTES'  should be forwarded to the server that
hosts the  CBPD-L list). So if  you want to  find out what was  said this
month on  the INFOXYZ  list, to  which you are  not subscribed  and whose
exact    location     you    forgot,    you    can     send    mail    to
[log in to unmask] with a GET INFOXYZ LOG9307 command and the
file will be sent to you.
 
Another potentially interesting use of  the -server convention is a means
to  reach the  list manager  associated  with a  particular list  without
having  to  know  what  flavour  of software  it  is  running  (LISTSERV,
Mailbase,  MAILSERV,  Listprocessor,  etc). This  however  might  require
modifications  to  the   other  list  managers,  and   some  people  will
undoubtedly object that it is not an Internet standard. I don't have time
to open this can of worms at the moment.
 
  Eric