Dennis Frost wrote:
>
> Hi people.
>
> I have a friend who would like to get onto the list & I will soon need to
> get off it for a month or two.
> What is the listservers addr and what commands do I use?
> I have long since lost my original subscription confirmation & with it
> these details.
>
> I have tried looking through the 10 000 archieved piclist emails I have but
> it is a hopeless task.

Still got a copy of my 'welcome letter'.  Here go:

To send  a message to  all the people  currently subscribed to  the
list,
just send mail to PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.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
(PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.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@MITVMA.MIT.EDU (or
LISTSERV@MITVMA.BITNET).
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 PICLIST"
command
to LISTSERV@MITVMA.MIT.EDU (or LISTSERV@MITVMA.BITNET). 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  PICLIST
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 PICLIST.
If
you send  a "SET PICLIST 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 PICLIST NOACK NOREPRO".

Following  instructions from  the list  owner, your  subscription
options
have been set to "MIME" rather than the usual LISTSERV defaults. For
more
information about subscription options, send a "QUERY PICLIST" command
to
LISTSERV@MITVMA.MIT.EDU (or LISTSERV@MITVMA.BITNET).

Contributions sent to this list are automatically archived. You can get
a
list of the available archive files by sending an "INDEX PICLIST"
command
to  LISTSERV@MITVMA.MIT.EDU  (or  LISTSERV@MITVMA.BITNET). You  can
then
order  these  files  with  a  "GET PICLIST  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  PICLIST
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 PICLIST 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@MITVMA.MIT.EDU (or LISTSERV@MITVMA.BITNET).

Gustaf