I don't  see any  inconsistency: if  you did  TELL LISTSERV  GET listname
(HEADER, you  wouldn't expect the list  header to be send  back via TELL,
would you? :-) And if  a link is down and you use mail  to send a GET XYZ
PACKAGE you  probably wouldn't expect the  binaries to be mailed  to you.
The GET command sends back a file, and the way to redirect file output to
mail is to code F=MAIL. The MAIL command prefix redirects regular message
output via mail and is useful only  if you send your command via TELL but
want the reply in  a mail message. It is a  no-operation when the command
is sent via mail.
 
  Eric