>It appears some errors exist in the algorithm or network tables.  Any idea
>what I should start looking for?
>
>> ...
>> To:           [log in to unmask]
>>
>> > sub lstsrv-l Phil Howard
>> The    nearest   LSTSRV-L    host   to    you   is
>> [log in to unmask] Your SUBSCRIBE request is being
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>> ...
 
Phil,
    The "error" is in the "network tables". Listserv ( LSVBESTP EXEC )
uses DOMAIN NAMES. It looks for: "VMD.CSO.UIUC.EDU", ".CSO.UIUC.EDU",
".UIUC.EDU", and finally ".EDU" until it finds a match. The UIUC entry
in DOMAIN NAMES looks like:
 
      :nick.UIUC.EDU      :mailer.SMTPUSER@UIUCVMD  BSMTP  3
 
LSVBESTP would only get a match if it looked for "UIUC.EDU". MAILER
would find a match since it compares the right-hand side of the
two strings, whereas LISTSERV uses NAMEFIND which looks for exact
matches. Perhaps your entry should look like:
 
      :nick..UIUC.EDU     :mailer.MAILER@UIUCVMD  BSMTP  3
 
( MAILER is a better choice than SMTPUSER since the mail is coming
via BITNET anyway... do not forget the "local-domain" variable! )
 
The reason why LISTSERV@POLYGRAF was found "nearer" is that the
".EDU" matched with:
 
      :nick..EDU          :mailer.SMTP@WISCVM       BSMTP  3
 
and POLYGRAF is the "closest" peer to WISCVM. ( Actually, POLYGRAF
( which is graf.poly.edu on the internet ) would not use WISCVM,
but would SMTP it to you directly. :-) ).
 
--Tony