Release 1.7a is being distributed, as network conditions permit, within the next 48h. To maximize staff availability in case of unexpected problem, no program file will be sent before 8am EDT. The release notes are being mailed under separate cover. Because of changes in the update installation procedure, release 1.7a will exceptionally come in two parts: a very small UPD16F shipment, containing just the new INSTALL processor and causing neither reboot nor change in version number, and the usual UPD17A shipment. For integrity reasons, the new installation procedure requires more free space on the 191 minidisk than with previous versions; to successfully load the UPD17A shipment, you will need at least 1.3M of free space. If the disk fills up during the installation, the CARD deck will be kept and you will be notified; just increase the size of the 191 minidisk and/or delete old LFIX backup files, then issue an INSTALL RELOAD UPD17A command. A justification for these changes can be found in the release notes under the heading "New INSTALL processor"; you will probably want to read this section before installing 1.7a anyway. The second most important section is the one titled "CRC-based checksumming of DISTRIBUTE jobs", which explains how to deal with jobs LISTSERV identifies as being corrupted. These two sections have been ordered before the others for your convenience, and you are strongly advised to read the release notes sequentially up to that point before proceeding with the installation. I apologize for the rambling nature of the release notes, and the probably countless omissions. We are presently being plagued with the unfortunate collusion of a heat wave and a new alarm system which prevents most windows from being opened for more than 30 seconds. The building, being designed for neither heat-generating terminals nor alarm systems, has no air conditioner; being however designed for swedish winters, it is very good at not letting the warmth out during the cooler nights (in spite of the generous contribution of a pair of drunkards who threw a brick through one of the windows yesterday at 3am). Anyway it took almost 1 week to produce the release notes, and I have probably abused PUT/GET from notebooks; if you have any questions, mail them to LSTSRV-L. Finally, I would like to encourage sites which are going to compile the code to provide some feedback to the LSTSRV-L list, for the benefit of other sites which may be considering whether or not to purchase the REXX compiler. Such figures will however be meaningless if they are based on a comparison with release 1.6e, rather than interpreted 1.7a, as there have been numerous performance changes. One way to address this problem is to deliberately run the interpreted version of 1.7a (with LISTPROC enabled - see the release notes) for a while before switching to the compiled version. Another way is to collect statistics from sites without the REXX compiler on the resource usage of LISTSERV before and after the installation of 1.7a, and compare them to the figures of "compiled" sites. In any case, make sure you read the "REXX compiler" section in the release notes carefully before attempting to compile anything. Eric