On Thu, 20 Apr 1995, Dave Kinnaman wrote:
 
> * Subscription=  Open,Confirm
>
> then new subscribers are asked to "ok" in response to a listserv query (in
> response to their original request to subscribe).  I can see that this may
> prevent some prank/third-party subscriptions.  Good.
>
> But is there some other compelling reason why would-be subscribers should
> normally have to say "Yes, I really mean it, please subscribe me to the
> list?"  Does the confirmation loop serve some other, important function?
 
The purpose is to be sure mail can get back and forth between the
subscriber's address and the LISTSERV address.  Sometimes the subscriber
can contact LISTSERV but LISTSERV can't contact the subscriber, which
means they wouldn't get their mail so they shouldn't be subscribed
from that address as everything will probably bounce.  They can then
contact you and you can try to figure out why they never receive the
confirmation message (happens fairly often) or go ahead and ADD them
with the proviso they'll be deleted at the first hint of trouble
(but then you'll have an error message to work with, which may be
more helpful than anything you can drag out of the wannabe subscriber).
 
       Douglas Winship   Hays County, Texas  [log in to unmask]
                    Secondary AUTOCAT Listowner
                              MEDLAB-L