On 12 Oct 98, at 16:19, Nathan Brindle wrote:

>More properly speaking, LISTSERV is a daemon, not a robot.
>
>Quite frankly the description "mailing list manager" is probably still
>the best, although the acronym MLM unfortunately also refers to a
>questionable type of get-rich-quick scheme :(
>
>Nathan

I've been using "automaton" for years with no complaints.  I'm sure it
has its problems, but so does "Daemon" which has its roots in Multics
and refers to a Gatekeeper... derived from (James Clerk?) Maxwell's
benevolent-demons "daemons" in thought experiments where they would
operate the gate between two vials of gas and only let the the molecules
pass in one direction.  Multics Daemons typically were privileged and
acted as the gate-keepers between security rings to verify user requests
for limited system services.  Unix' use of the term is as sloppy as every-
thing else they borrowed without fully groking.

MLM probably would have been the best choice but it's either a mouthful
or an acronymn.
                                                 -Kary