I said:
 
>>It would  really help  in the new  templates to be  able to  include the
>>user's e-mail address as LISTSERV sees it.
 
Make that the *subscriber's* e-mail address as LISTSERV sees it.
 
Eric Thomas <[log in to unmask]> replied:
 
>Ah, now I see that's not what  you meant. If I understand you well, you'd
>like  LISTSERV to  tell the  user what  is the  address he  is subscribed
>under, so that  he can arrange to  send from that address.  Now how would
>LISTSERV know that [log in to unmask] is the same as ERIC@SEARN?
 
Ah, paradox.  The best time to avoid a paradox is at the beginning.  ;-)
 
The "you have subscribed" notice is the one piece of mail to the user that
is both most likely to reach the user *and* most likely to be paid attention
to.  So I'd like LISTSERV to tell the user
 
        "your e-mail address appears to me to be [log in to unmask]
 
        If your address is about to change in the future, or you use more
        than one account or an account on more than one networked computer,
        you should be aware that I am not smart enough to know that the
        different variants of your e-mail address belong to you.  You must
        send all administrative requests from [log in to unmask], or they
        won't be accepted.  If this becomes impossible, you will have to ask
        the mailing list administrator to personally assist you.
 
        Please keep this note, and remember to cancel your subscription,
        should you anticipate the demise of [log in to unmask]  You
        can always re-subscribe from your new address.  Thank you."
 
Many mailing lists accept articles sent by non-subscribers, which are often
subscribed users who send e-mail from addresses other than the one from which
they subscribed.  This is a great convenience, but leads to confusion;  if it
is not pointed out to them, they may never think of it on their own.
 
It is not enough to reply to a failed unsubscribe request with the comment
"[log in to unmask] is not subscribed".  So I recommend addressing the
issue at the outset, at the time of subscription *and* adding comments to
the failure reply.  Here's what I tell people:  if possible, REVIEW the
list (this might not be possible, if this feature is PRIVATE and the user
isn't sending the request from the "subscribed" address, or the user has a
CONCEALed subscription) and look for your name there.  This will give you
a clue as to the address *from* which you should send your request.
 
--
        Una Smith
 
Yale University, Department of Biology, Osborn Memorial Laboratories,
PO Box 6666, New Haven, Connecticut  06511-8155     [log in to unmask]