On Jun 19, 22:24, <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
} Your message is being returned to you unprocessed because it seems to have
} been already sent to the SCIFAQ-L list....
Chris Lewis; [log in to unmask]:
>Someone has obviously set up a news -> mail -> LISTSERV gateway.
>LISTSERV is a rather substantial package used for maintaining mailing
>lists hosted on IBM mainframes.
I am the "owner" of SCIFAQ-L, a LISTSERV mailing list for distributing
Usenet FAQs posted in sci.answers. I have corresponded with the person
above (who signs "ltr") to track down what happened. I'm sorry to have
takend so long; I am on vacation and don't have many opportunities to
read my e-mail.
>LISTSERVs keep checksums around to detect when duplicates of
>a message are received. This is, in part, to reduce mail loops.
>I just got hit with one of these because I posted the wiring FAQ
>twice in 12 hours by accident. ...
I don't know what ltr did, but I suspect ltr simply posted an FAQ that
was identical to the previous version, perhaps too soon after the previous
posting. I have read everything I can find about LISTSERV administration,
so now it is time to bow my head and ask humbly whether the checksum
heuristic can be manipulated to relax the restriction on duplicate messages
for SCIFAQ-L, and what the default parameters are now.
I am also the author of an FAQ distributed via sci.answers, and I have
had no problems like this, but I certainly understand the annoyance
that the SCIFAQ-L list may be causing to other FAQ authors. Please
be patient, everyone: the Usenet -> LISTSERV gateway for sci.answers
is an important extension of the existing distribution system. Many
sites can not get Usenet feeds, for whatever reason, but do have Usenet
software that can be used to organize and share LISTSERV mailing list
subscriptions as though they were Usenet groups. SCIFAQ-L is, as far
as I know, the first gateway from Usenet to a mailing list, and the
first mailing list gated to a *.answers newsgroup. It is only a few
months old, so it is not surprising that there are a few problems.
Una Smith Department of Biology [log in to unmask]
Yale University
New Haven, CT 06511
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