LISTSERV

All of us are on "junk mail" lists that use the U.S. Postal Service. The only trick there is how to get off. Luckily, you have to ask to be on a computer mailing list and generally can unsubscribe easlily.

One such type of mailing list is News or Usenet. There you subscribed and read newsgroupgs which were on topics that interested you.

LISTSERV is another version of a mailing list.  It stands for "list server." It was originally a mailing-list server that made it easy to send one mail message that reached many people. One person agreed to set up a list whose topic was of general interest. People interested in this topic then subscribed to the list. Mail on this topic was sent to the list name, as opposed to each individual. The LISTSERV software then handled distributing the mail message to each person who had subscribed to the list. The sender only knows the posting goes to those on the list; he/she does not actually have any idea who all the recipients are.

LISTSERVs were traditionally IBM mainframe based, but that has been changing. However, the commands you use still have an IBM system flavor. You use email to access various LISTSERVs.   LISTSERVs know about other LISTSERVs so you can send your request to a local LISTSERV server, and it will be distributed to other LISTERVs on other machines around the world.

Virginia Tech is running a LISTSERV server on listserv.vt.edu, a UNIX based system.

LISTSERV Features

• You must subscribe to a list to receive any mailings.
• You can cancel your subscription at any time, (you must cancel from the same  email ID you used when you subscribed).
• You can reply to mailings you receive. By default, most replies go to the whole list.
• "Open" LISTSERV lists allow anyone to subscribe and unsubscribe to them. However, "closed" lists are resticted and only the list owner can add and delete people to/from the list.

Using Mail and LISTSERV

To subscribe to a list at Va Tech, you must send email to a LISTSERV server that knows about the list. In most cases, that means sending mail to

listserv@listserv.vt.edu

Leave the subject field blank and put your LISTSERV request in the body of the message. It is a good idea to not append a signature file. BE SURE YOU SEND REQUESTS TO LISTSERV AND NOT THE LIST.

What Lists Are Available?

To find out what lists are available at your local LISTSERV site, send the following message in the body of your mail note:

LIST

Subscribing to a List

To subscribe to a LISTSERV, you put the following in the body of an e-mail that you send to the LISTSERV site.

SUBSCRIBE list_name first_name last_name

Quitting a List

To unsubscribe from a LISTSERV, you put the following in the body of an e-mail that you send to the LISTSERV site.



SIGNOFF list_name

Going on Vacation?

LISTSERV mail can really pile up when you go on vacation. Do yourself, and us, a favor and have the mail stopped while you are gone. This method is preferred to signing off.  Again, you put this in the body of an e-mail that you send to the LISTSERV site.
 

SET list_name NOMAIL
SET list_name MAIL

For Further Information:

• LISTSERV
• Virginia Tech Computing Services LISTSERV knowledge base page