Klarinet Archive - Posting 000414.txt from 1995/10

From: Mitch Bassman <mbassman@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: Mail Trouble
Date: Tue, 17 Oct 1995 09:48:43 -0400

On Mon, 16 Oct 1995, Roger J. Shilcock wrote:

> It seems I am not even allowed to SIGNOFF, because LISTSERV doesn't know I'm
> subscribed. What CAN be going on? Does anyone have any idea?
> Roger Shilcock
>

I was in the process of composing the following "idea" when John Roman's
response came through.

Your "problem" suggests that your address has changed since you first
subscribed. The LISTSERV software determines who you are by the return
address encoded in the message that you send to it. If your address has
changed, *or* if your mailer has been reconfigured by your system
adminstrator to generate a logically equivalent but lexically different
address from the one with which you subscribed, then LISTSERV will see you
as a different user.

My mailer is currently reporting your return address, as generated by your
system's mailer, to be

mlfl%vax.ox.ac.uk@-----.BITNET

I just queried the list server and found that your address is registered
as

mlfl@-----.UK

Although mail to either address will get to you at the same place, they
are lexically different. If you resubscribe, you'll get two copies of
messages. If you try to unsubscribe, the list server won't find you. If
you leave things alone, the server doesn't recognize you as a
subscriber. (Sigh.)

So, you can (a) do nothing, (b) ask one of the list owners, already
identified in John Roman's message and probably reading this thread
anyway, to fix things manually, or (c) ask your system adminstrator to
reconfigure your mailer to generate the previous address format.

I'm *not* an expert on the LISTSERV software, but I think I have most of
the facts right.

Good luck,
Mitch Bassman