This is the first "Send= Editor" wave of loops. The first time, it was
because the documentation didn't state clearly that this could NOT be done,
because mail coming from an ARPA list does NOT have a 'From:/Sender:' field
pointing to the list address, and will therefore not match the list address
placed in the 'Editor=' field, which means it will be returned to the editor,
etc. The first time, it was partly my fault.
 
The second time, it was because people had a "brilliant" idea which was so
neat and wonderful that they'd implement it straight away, without telling me
first, so that I couldn't pretend the idea was mine and get the Nobel prize
for myself when they were the ones to have found it out. But this time the
documentation had been changed, and I think it is clear enough and people
can't pretend not to have understood.
 
*********************************************
* Editor= (net-address1),(net-address2),... *
*********************************************
  (...)
! IMPORTANT NOTE: The  editor MUST be a human person,  not a file server,
! list server,  mailer, or  suchlike. Specifying  a program's  mailbox as
! "Editor=" could result in a mailing loop for which the author could not
! be held responsible.
 
Now it seems that this third wave was quite a bit like the second one. I
don't know what I can do. There is no way LISTSERV can check that the "Editor"
address points to a human person. There is no way I can force ARPA list software
 
to implement a loop-detection mechanism (which would easily trap this kind of
loops). There is no way I can force ARPA mailers to put the list address in
the 'From:' field - they'd already like to burn me for my present heresy, and
I don't think that they'd view this kind of suggestions as anything but
insolent "provocation" which "definitely calls for blood" :-)
 
Maybe I should put a disclaimer in the first paragraph of the
installation guide:
 
Do NOT try to find a revolutionary way of handling ARPA lists by means of
the "Editor=" keyword. Many people have tried before you, and now they
sincerely regret it.
 
:-)
 
  Eric