> For me it is not a basic question.
> Must you be connected at all times to an ISP PPP account ??

You must have a fixed host name for LISTSERV Classic to operate
correctly. This generally implies a fixed IP address, which is not
common in the dialup world, but fixed host names may become more so
if dynamic DNS catches on.

> Could someone explain how listserv classic works (big picture).

It's actually explained in the LISTSERV User's Guide, which you can
get from the documentation page on the Lsoft WWW site, but here's the
50,000 foot overview:

1) User composes mail message to list address using his/her normal
mail tools.

2) User's mail system opens SMTP connection to LISTSERV host and
delivers message to list address.

3) (vast simplification) The list address "user" on the LISTSERV host
routes the message to the LISTSERV program with additional
information tacked on to identify the list it's destined to go to.

4) LISTSERV takes the message, looks up the list of recipients based
on the additional information supplied by the mail system and
generates one or more outgoing messages to the other list recipients.

5 ) Repeat very fast.

Note that the message is delivered directly to the LISTSERV host, not
to a POP mailbox or any intermediate setup -- it has to work this way
to permit it to support multiple mailing lists. That's why the
fixed host name restriction exists.



David Boyes
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