I've recently encountered an issue using the digest option with a set of
lists.

We have a "Super-List" that has 2 "Sub-List" set.  The Super-list has no
subscribers
while the Sub-Lists include people from different campus
classifications.  There
are a few people on both lists, generally administrative staff, but the
majority
of the subscribers are on one list or the other.

The list owner requested to have these lists default to a weekly digest.
But after
setting these options, e-mails to the Super-List are always distributed
immediately.

Looking in the 16.0 Owners manual I found the answer as to why the
Digest option is not working.

6.2.4 Normal List vs. Super-List

The DIGEST and INDEX options are ignored and internally converted to
MAIL.
The first reason is that, since in most cases the user will be on
multiple sub-lists
(otherwise you don't need a super-list in the first place), the only
safe method to set
subscription options for super-messages is by subscribing to the
super-list so that there
is no ambiguity. The second reason is that, in most cases, super-lists
will be used for
out of band administrative messages rather than for large volume
discussions, so it is
actually preferable to have the message sent directly. The third reason
is that the
super-list and sub-lists may not necessarily offer the same options
(DIGEST and INDEX).
In particular it is expected that many super-lists will not have
archives.
If you want a DIGEST or INDEX for the super-messages, you must subscribe
to the super-list directly.


I'm not sure I agree with this reasoning.  The Super-List is used to
send messages that are 
of interest to both groups, while the sub-lists are for communications
that are specific to 
their campus classification.  The beauty of this setup is that anyone on
the Sub-Lists can send to 
the Super-List and get their mail distributed to both but they do not
get all the other emails that are 
only for one group or the other.  So in this case there really is no
ambiguity.  The few people on
both lists have the same Digest option set.  I really don't want to have
everyone subscribed to the
Super-list since that defeats the purpose of having a Super-list and
just managing the Sub-Lists. 

Any advice on the best way to set this up?

Mike Plowinske
SUNY System Administration
LISTSERV 16.0 Build 8-Nov-2011
Windows Server 2003 R2

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