To send a message to all of the people currently subscribed to the list,
just send mail to SLRLN-L@MLNCLIST.MLNC.ORG. This is called "sending mail
to the list" because you are sending mail to a single address and
LISTSERV makes copies for all of the people who have subscribed. This
address (SLRLN-L@MLNCLIST.MLNC.ORG) 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 LISTSERV@MLNCLIST.MLNC.ORG, which is the LISTSERV address. It is
very important to understand the difference between the two. 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 to someone's voice line, then
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. 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 SLRLN-L" command
to LISTSERV@MLNCLIST.MLNC.ORG. 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 SLRLN-L REPRO" command and LISTSERV will
send you a copy of your own messages so 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 SLRLN-L. If you send a "SET SLRLN-L ACK NOREPRO"
command, then 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 the "SET SLRLN-L NOACK NOREPRO" command.
Following instructions from the list owner, your subscription options
have been set to "REPRO" rather than the usual LISTSERV defaults. For
more information about subscription options, send a "QUERY SLRLN-L"
command to LISTSERV@MLNCLIST.MLNC.ORG.
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@MLNCLIST.MLNC.ORG.
