In <[log in to unmask]>, [log in to unmask] (Una Smith)
writes:
>The FAQ about LISTSERV mailing lists gated into Usenet was taken over
>recently by a long-time Usenet administrator, who has added all the
>other known gated mailing lists.  Thus, to save trouble for himself
>and readers of the FAQ, he gives only the listname-REQUEST address for
>subscriptions, for both LISTSERV and Unix ListServer mailing lists.
>That's why we list owners have been getting a host of subscription
>requests via listname-REQUEST in the past few weeks.  And it is only
>going to get worse, a *lot* worse.
 
Actually I think I am to blame for this because I wrote the text David
Lawrence uses in his FAQ.  In order to combine the list of gateways I
maintained (mostly to bit.* groups but some to other groups) with the
list Gene Spafford maintained, we needed a way to tell people how to
subscribe to the mailing lists if they didn't have access to e-mail.
Some of these mailing lists were Revised Listserv lists and others were
managed by other MLMs.  As far as I know the only way to subscribe to
any list, if you don't know what MLM is managing it, is to write to
[log in to unmask]
 
>Better ideas would be appreciated.
 
If it is a huge problem for list owners, then the text can be revised to
say something like "To subscribe, first try mailing to
[log in to unmask] with 'SUBSCRIBE <listname> <Your Name>' on the first
and only line of the mail message.  If this does not work, send a
request to <listname>[log in to unmask] asking to be added to the
subscriber list."
 
I do not think it would be a good idea to split the list into two
sections:  those lists which are currently being managed by the Revised
Listserv lists, and those which are being managed by some other MLM. Not
only would it make the list much more difficult to read and understand,
but having to determine which lists belong in each section each month
would be a real headache.  I know I want to have the flexibility of
moving lists from the Revised Listserv to other MLMs as we get closer to
converting our users off CMS -- and I know other sites are doing the
same.
 
Jim McIntosh ([log in to unmask])
The American University
Washington, DC USA 20016-8019