IBMFYC237E Works as designed -- not APARable
IBMFYC238E Works as documented -- not APARable
 
  I hope I won't sound like the above IBM messages. :-) However, when a list is
HELD it  usually means there is  some kind of  mailing loop going on.  When you
reboot  the  server, the  lists  stays  held. Let's  say  that  I realize  that
LINKFAIL@xxxxx is  looping. I hold it,  then go back home,  back next thursday.
What happens if  node xxxxx crashes during the night  and LISTSERV is rebooted?
Similarly,  OFFLINE means  that either  some undetermined  list is  looping, or
there are 2000+ files queued on the links. If for some reason LISTSERV is reboo
ted, it should  remain OFFLINE I think. Also, changing  back to ONLINE requires
*selectively* changing reader  files to NOHOLD, while  carefully avoiding files
which belong to a list which has  been specifically held with the HOLD command.
It's not just a GLOBALV SELECT LISTHELD SET OFFLINE.
 
  Now I realize that for some reason it seems I have somehow forgotten to modi-
fy the LIST command to report when a  list is held ;-) Don't kill me, I'm going
to do it on the spot. I'm also  going to add a message at startup informing the
postmasters that the server is still in offline status, just in case they might
have forgotten....
 
  Bad news: effective  monday, 1pm my time,  the FRHEC11 to CEARN  link will be
advantageously  replaced by  FRHEC11 -->  FRMOP11 -->  FRMOP22 -->  CEARN. This
means 2 more  nodes between me and  the rest of the network,  including one MVS
node and one RSCS V2 node whose reliability is (* censored for politico-diploma
tical reasons  *). The  main french  node will become  FRMOP22 (MVS  node which
hopefully runs JES2 and not JES3 *phew*). I'd  like to ask you to please keep a
copy of whatever you  send me from then. Hundreds of files  have been lost when
FRMOP11 has  installed RSCS V2  due to routing errors,  files sent to  RSCS and
consequently purged, etc. Also spain has  been utterly severed from EARN during
about 15  days (correct  me if I'm  wrong on  the figure). I  hope it  will not
happen this time, but would not bet a  single penny on it. I wish I had reasons
not to sound so negative..............
 
  Eric