|
Welcome
/ Introduction Message
Date: 10/11/98 9:14:05 AM Central Daylight Time
From: LISTSERV@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (L-Soft list
server at St. John's University (1.8c))
Reply-to: DECLUTTR-request@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU
Sun, 11 Oct 1998 10:14:05
Your subscription to the DECLUTTR list (Decluttr) has
been accepted.
Please save this message for future reference,
especially if this is the first time you subscribe to an
electronic mailing list. If you ever need to leave the
list, you will find the necessary instructions below.
Perhaps more importantly, saving a copy of this message
(and of all future subscription notices from other
mailing lists) in a special mail folder will give you
instant access to the list of mailing lists that you are
subscribed to. This may prove very useful the next time
you go on vacation and need to leave the lists
temporarily so as not to fill up your mailbox while you
are away! You should also save the "welcome messages"
from the list owners that you will occasionally receive
after subscribing to a new list.
To send a message to all the people currently
subscribed to the list, just send mail to
DECLUTTR@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU.
This is called "sending mail to the list", because you
send mail to a single address and LISTSERV makes copies
for all the people who have subscribed. This address
(DECLUTTR@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU) is also called the "list
address".
You must never try to send any command to that
address, as it would be distributed to all the people who
have subscribed. All commands must be sent to the
"LISTSERV address", LISTSERV@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU. It is
very important to understand the difference between the
two, but fortunately it is not complicated. The LISTSERV
address is like a FAX number that connects you to a
machine, whereas the list address is like a normal voice
line connecting you to a person. If you make a mistake
and dial the FAX number when you wanted to talk to
someone on the phone, you will quickly realize that you
used the wrong number and call again. No harm will have
been done. If on the other hand you accidentally make
your FAX call someone's voice line, the person receiving
the call will be inconvenienced, especially if your FAX
then re-dials every 5 minutes.
The fact that most people will eventually connect the
FAX machine to the voice line to allow the FAX to go
through and make the calls stop does not mean that you
should continue to send FAXes to the voice number. People
would just get mad at you. It works pretty much the same
way with mailing lists, with the difference that you are
calling hundreds or thousands of people at the same time,
and consequently you can expect a lot of people to get
upset if you consistently send commands to the list
address.
You may leave the list at any time by sending a
"SIGNOFF DECLUTTR" command to
LISTSERV@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU. You can also tell
LISTSERV how you want it to confirm the receipt of
messages you send to the list. If you do not trust the
system, send a "SET DECLUTTR REPRO" command and LISTSERV
will send you a copy of your own messages, so that you
can see that the message was distributed and did not get
damaged on the way.
After a while you may find that this is getting
annoying, especially if your mail program does not tell
you that the message is from you when it informs you that
new mail has arrived from DECLUTTR. If you send a "SET
DECLUTTR ACK NOREPRO" command, LISTSERV will mail you a
short acknowledgement instead, which will look different
in your mailbox directory. With most mail programs you
will know immediately that this is an acknowledgement you
can read later. Finally, you can turn off
acknowledgements completely with "SET DECLUTTR NOACK
NOREPRO".
Following instructions from the list owner, your
subscription options have been set to "REPRO SHORTHDR
NOMIME" rather than the usual LISTSERV defaults. For more
information about subscription options, send a "QUERY
DECLUTTR" command to LISTSERV@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU.
Contributions sent to this list are automatically
archived. You can get a list of the available archive
files by sending an "INDEX DECLUTTR" command to
LISTSERV@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU. You can then order these
files with a "GET DECLUTTR LOGxxxx" command, or using
LISTSERV's database search facilities. Send an "INFO
DATABASE" command for more information on the latter.
This list is available in digest form. If you wish to
receive the digested version of the postings, just issue
a SET DECLUTTR DIGEST command.
Please note that it is presently possible for other
people to determine that you are signed up to the list
through the use of the "REVIEW" command, which returns
the e-mail address and name of all the subscribers. If
you do not want your name to be visible, just issue a
"SET DECLUTTR CONCEAL" command.
More information on LISTSERV commands can be found in
the LISTSERV reference card, which you can retrieve by
sending an "INFO REFCARD" command to
LISTSERV@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU.
|