Digital Underground - uXu - Underground eXperts United #uxu-346

### ### ### ### ### #### ### ### ### #### ### ### ##### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ##### ### ### ########## ### ### ########## ### ### ### ### Underground eXperts United Presents... ####### ## ## ####### # # ####### ## ## ####### ## ## ## ## ##### # ## ## ## ## #### ## ## #### # # #### ####### ####### ## ## ## ## ##### # ## ## ## ## ## ## ####### ####### # # ####### ## ####### [ Mailing Lists - Part 1 ] [ By The Chief ] ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ()()()()()()()()()()() () Mailing Lists () () Part 1 () () by The Chief () ()()()()()()()()()()() "...to hate or not to hate, that is the question." - Mr. E Are you surprised that the US '96 election is broadcasted on more TV channels in Sweden than the Swedish '94 election? Well then you're reading the wrong file. If you are, on the other hand, thinking about starting a mailing list, then you are indeed reading the correct file. So, you are thinking about starting a mailing list! Good for you! Or.. bad for you? Are you sure you know what you are doing, or is everything new to you? Will you survive all the surprises waiting around the corner? Let us give you some hints in this first part, where we take a look at what you need to think about before your mailing list is actually up and running. Some of you probably think that these hints are useless, and not even worth to mention. "It is obvious" you might say. Well, no one told you to read this file, right? This file is _not_ a mailing list FAQ (there are plenty good ones out there) and it is _not_ a manual on how to set up mailing list software (you'll get that with the software you choose). This file is written for those who have no idea about what they are getting themselves involved with, and let's face it, more and more people are hooking up to the Internet, more and more people want to start their own mailing list, and how many do you think know what to think about, have knowledge about how mailing lists work, or have experience from running mailing lists? Who has not seen mailing lists going from something that appears to be a great idea, with discussions from interested people, about the selected topic, to absolute chaos? I believe that these mailing lists have been badly planned, badly thought out, badly run and in the end, badly handled. Why not try to eliminate these problems from the start, from the first simple thought "I want to create a mailing list", instead of watching mailing lists start only to die a couple of months later? Then again, I'm not saying that I am an expert, and that this is absolutely everything you need to think of. I have only run about ten mailing lists for about four years (give or take), and I know there are people with a lot more experience and expertise out there. I'm merely trying to point out that when you start a mailing list, you have to be aware of some of the problems you will have to deal with, and the consequences it will have on you, your subscribers, and the system you are running it on. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- So, why not start with the basic and trivial things you should think about. 1. In what area of interest will your mailing list be placed? 2. Are there enough people interested in that area of interest to make it an active mailing list? 3. You can't have a mailing list about "Animals". 4. What? There is a list about Cats already? 5. I can't find a mailing list about my topic anywhere! 6. Tell the world about your *plans* for the mailing list! 7. Create your mailing list. 8. The Software 9. Resources --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. In what area of interest will your mailing list be placed? - Decide *what* your mailing list will be about first. If you do not know this now, then you can stop reading. If you *do* know, then you're still with us. Say for example that your area of interest will be "Animals". Okay, then you are ready to go ahead to number 2. 2. Are there enough people interested in that area of interest to make it an active mailing list? - No matter what area of interest you have chosen, you'll find that there are people around with the same interest. You don't believe me? Try to pick one single area that you think no one will be interested in? Animals? No. Stamps? No. Grass? No. The sun? No. Right. So, don't sit there doing nothing! Move on to number 3! 3. You can't have a mailing list about "Animals". - You see, you have to specialize your mailing list. Give it a target, a specific subject within the area of interest you have chosen. But, just for a second, let's say that you chose "Animals" and start a mailing list. How will you get people to subscribe to your list? "Hey, I've got a list about animals!" No, I don't think so, unless you want a million subscribers talking about everything from cats in trees to dinosaurs. Try it if you want though. It would be fun to see how such a list would turn out. No, let's face it. You have to make your list special. So move on to nr 4. 4. What? There is a list about Cats already? - Of course there is. There are several thousand mailing lists about several thousand special topics, and if you try to start one about something that already exists, then you're just plain stupid. Of course you have to check if there *is* a mailing list covering the topic you want your list to handle. If there is one, well just subscribe to that one, or think of another topic if you desperately want to have your own list. There are several places on the net where you can check this, like the "List of Mailing Lists" for example. That's a good place to start. It is available on the web, through FTP and through Usenet News. 5. I can't find a mailing list about my topic anywhere! - Good! Then you are on your way. But, let's face it, if you chose something like "Animals with three legs" then you'll have a hard time finding people with the same interest. On the other hand, if you already have a steady base of people with an interest in three legged animals, say in a Usenet Newsgroup, then you are all set. Go ahead. 6. Tell the world about your *plans* for the mailing list! - That's right. You can now announce that you are *planning* to start such a mailing list, on the Usenet Newsgroup, or in an appropriate place for announcing new mailing lists. DO NOT announce your plans for your mailing list on other unrelated mailing lists or in other unrelated Newsgroups - you will suffer if you do. Say for example that you chose "Animals with three legs". Do you think that people who are interested in Cars will be interested in your list? No, I don't think so. So, post your plans on mailing lists and Newsgroups *related* to "Animals", and perhaps "three legged things", or even "weirdos", (what do I know, there might actually be people out there with serious and genuine interest in three legged animals)? Anyway, the point is to generate some interest, to start a discussion, to find out if it really *is* a good idea to start this list. Without interest, no list. So, what will it be? A new list, or no list at all? A new list you say? Well, number 7 is next. 7. Create your mailing list. - Now when you know that people are interested in your topic, it is time to decide if you want to run your own mailing list program or perhaps let a dedicated server your internet supplier, or someone else, provides you with handle it. - The second choice (if available) is not as good as it may seem. The dedicated server may handle hundreds of mailing lists, and run old and problematic mailing list software. The software problem is essential in several ways. If the server handles several hundred mailing lists, no one will even want to think about changing the software to something better, more secure or easier to work with. A change would mean that each and every mailing list on the server, and each and every subscriber on those lists, as well as every place where information about the mailing lists are presented (such as in lists of mailing lists) will also need some sort of change. For example, a small change in the list commands, like "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" to something else, say "add" and "remove", will create an enormous amount of extra work for the mailing list owners, and in turn, everyone in any way related to the mailing lists. The subscribers will need to know, the places where the lists are listed, presented and discussed will need to know. And for one hundred mailing lists, you can imagine the amount of work that has to be done. So, even though this choice is attractive, and is the easiest way to set up and run a mailing list, it might just as well be the downfall of your mailing list in the end. - The first choice, to run your own mailing list program is therefor almost always the best choice, but of course, only if you are able to do this. And that is not very common, unless you have shell access and enough privileges on your Internet provider's system, or of course, if you have your own system hooked up to the Internet. If you do, then you're set, and have a wide variety of mailing list software to select from. A good advice is to pick the piece of software that most mailing lists on the Internet use today. Even though it makes it harder for people who are developing other ones, it will make it a lot easier for *you*. Say that you need help setting it up - you can ask a lot of people. And it will make it easier for almost everyone else, because they will *know* how to subscribe to your list, unsubscribe from your list, request information about your list, and so on, because it works like most of the other mailing lists on the Internet. It will also (almost always) ensure that you will find new versions, upgrades and bug fixes for it, something that is crucial, and something you will clearly see in the next part of this "series". Once you have set up the software of your choice, and you are up and running, you can of course always try other programs on the side if you like. 8. The Software - I won't recommend any programs, and therefor, not even try to tell you how to set up your mailing list software. There are too many to list them all, but here are a selected few: Almanac, BMW, IDG, ListProc, CREN ListProc (commercial), LISTSERV (commercial), Mailbase, MailShare (Mac), MAISER (NetWare), Majordomo, MReply, MXSERV, SmartList, Smof (DOS), TULP. I leave it totally up to you to decide which one you want to run. But once you have started your mailing list on a dedicated server, or on your own, the first thing you have to do is to add yourself as a subscriber to your list. Pretty obvious one might think, but you really need to try out *all* the administrative commands available, and see that they work the way they should, and not in any other way. Once you have done that, and are a subscriber of your own mailing list, you are ready for Part 2, in this "series". 9. Resources - Here you'll find a selected group of Mailing List software, and where you can find more information, source code, software, discussion lists, and whatnot. You can also find some resources for general mailing list information at the end. I recommend that you check out the current version of the Mailing List Software FAQ before anything else though, because there you'll get up to date information - as I have no idea when (in time) you are reading this file. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9.1 Almanac 9.2 BMW 9.3 IDG 9.4 ListProc 9.5 CREN ListProc 9.6 LISTSERV 9.7 Mailbase 9.8 MAISER 9.9 Majordomo 9.10 MReply 9.11 MXSERV 9.12 SmartList 9.13 Smof 9.14 TULP 9.15 General Resources --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9.1 Almanac 9.1.2 Through FTP Source: ftp://ftp.oes.orst.edu/pub/ 9.1.4 Mailing Lists Almanac Discussion List: Send Email to: almanac@oes.orst.edu with the following in the message body: subscribe alm-core-mg 9.2 BMW 9.2.2 Through FTP Source: ftp://gojira.monsta.com/pub/src/ 9.3 IDG 9.3.3 Through Email Software: Send Email to: ftpmail%t3ew@dot.ca.gov with the following in the message body: connect get software/internet/idg quit 9.4 ListProc 9.4.2 Through FTP Source: ftp://cs-ftp.bu.edu/pub/listserv/current_version.Z 9.4.4 Mailing Lists ListProc Discussion List: Send Email to: listproc@avs.com with the following in the message body: sub unix-listproc Your Name 9.5 CREN ListProc 9.5.2 Through FTP Information: ftp://info.cren.net/ 9.5.3 Through Email Information: Send Email to: listproc-info@listproc.net 9.5.4 Mailing Lists CREN ListProc Discussion List: Send Email to: listproc@cren.org with the following in the message body: sub cren-list <Your Name> 9.6 LISTSERV 9.6.1 On The WWW Software: http://www.listserv.net/ 9.6.2 Through FTP Evaluation kits: ftp://ftp.spc.edu/listserv/ 9.6.3 Through Email LISTSERV Basic Information: Send Email to: LISTSERV@LISTSERV.NET with the following in the message body: HELP LISTSERV List of Information Files: Send Email to: LISTSERV@LISTSERV.NET with the following in the message body: INFO LISTSERV Sales Information: Send Email to: SALES@LSOFT.COM. 9.6.4 Mailing Lists LISTSERV System Administrator Discussion List: Send Email to: LISTSERV@uga.cc.uga.edu with the following in the message body: sub LSTSRV-L Your Name LISTSERV List Owner Discussion List: Send Email to: LISTSERV@searn.sunet.se with the following in the message body: sub LSTOWN-L Your Name 9.7 Mailbase 9.7.1 On The WWW Mailbase Document Archive: http://www.mailbase.ac.uk/ 9.7.3 Through Email Software: Send Email to: mailbase-helpline@mailbase.ac.uk Mailbase Basics: Send Email to: mailbase@mailbase.ac.uk with the following in the message body: send mailbase user-guide 9.8 MAISER 9.8.2 Through FTP If you have a NetWare server, and want to try out MAISER, you will need Pegasus and Mercury: ftp://risc.ua.edu/pub/network/pegasus/ 9.8.4 Mailing Lists Pegasus and Mercury Discussion List: Send Email to: LISTSERV@UA1VM.UA.EDU. with the following in the message body: subscribe PMAIL Your Name 9.9 Majordomo 9.9.1 On The WWW Software: http://www.enfo.com/MailLists/majdom/index.html FAQ: http://www.math.psu.edu/barr/majordomo-faq.html Guide: http://www.uchicago.edu/a.docs/Mail/majordomo.admin.html Workers & Users Archive: http://www.meadow.net/Majordomo/ 9.9.2 Through FTP Source: ftp://ftp.greatcircle.com/pub/majordomo/majordomo.tar.Z FAQ: ftp://ftp.uu.net/usenet/news.answers/mail/majordomo-faq 9.9.3 Through Email FAQ: Send Email to: majordomo@pop.psu.edu with the following in the message body: get file majordomo-faq FAQ: Send Email to: mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu with the following in the message body: send usenet/comp.mail.list-admin.software/ Majordomo_Frequently_Asked_Questions 9.9.4 Mailing Lists Majordomo Discussion List: Send Email to: majordomo@greatcircle.com with the following in the message body: subscribe majordomo-users 9.10 MReply 9.10.2 Through FTP Source: ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/to/tor/mreply/ 9.10.3 Through Email MReply Help Document: Send Email to: mreply-request@netcom.com with the following in the message body: help 9.10.4 Mailing Lists MReply Discussion List: Send Email to: mreply-request@netcom.com with the following in the message body: subscribe mreply-list 9.11 MXSERV 9.11.2 Through FTP Software: ftp.spc.edu://pub/mx/ 9.11.4 Mailing Lists MXSERV Discussion List: Send Email to: MX-List-Request@WKUVX1.BITNET with the following in the message body: subscribe 9.12 SmartList 9.12.2 Through FTP Source: ftp://ftp.informatik.rwth-aachen.de/pub/packages/Procmail/ SmartList.tar.gz 9.12.4 Mailing Lists SmartList Discussion List: Send Email to: SmartList-request@informatik.rwth-aachen.de with the following in the message body: subscribe 9.13 Smof 9.13.2 Through FTP Software: ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/ibmpc/dos/apps/listutils/ 9.14 TULP 9.14.2 Through FTP Source: ftp://ftp.univ-lyon1.fr/pub/systems/unix/mail/ list-servers/tulp/ 9.14.4 Mailing Lists TULP Discussion List: Send Email to: listserv@grasp.insa-lyon.fr with the following in the message body: sub listnix Your Name 9.15 General Information and other interesting resources 9.15.2 Through FTP List of Mailing Lists: ftp://ftp.uu.net/usenet/news.answers/mail/mailing-lists/ Mailing List FAQ documents: ftp://ftp.uu.net/usenet/news.answers/mail/list-admin/ 9.15.3 Through Email Mailing List Software FAQ: Send Email to: LISTSERV@listserv.net with the following in the message body: get mlm-software faq 9.15.4 Mailing Lists General Mailing List for List Managers: Send Email to: list-managers@greatcircle.com 9.15.5 Usenet Newsgroups Mailing List Discussions: comp.mail.list-admin.policy comp.mail.list-admin.software Mailing List Lists and FAQ documents: news.answers ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The second part will deal with what you need to think about when you do have a running, working mailing list, with a selected topic. Unfortunately, that's when the big problems appear. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- uXu #346 Underground eXperts United 1996 uXu #346 Call RIPCO ][ -> +1-312-528-5020 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

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