X-Envelope-to: VPIEJ-L@VTVM1.BITNET
X-VMS-To: IN%"VPIEJ-L@VTVM1.BITNET"
Approved-By:  James Powell <JPOWELL@VTVM1.BITNET>
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.vpiej-l
Date:         Wed, 16 Dec 1992 08:48:46 EST
              and Access" <VPIEJ-L@VTVM1.BITNET>
From:         "Peter Graham, Rutgers U., (908) 932-2741" <GRAHAM@ZODIAC.BITNET>
Subject:      Re: List for Net Document Authoring


Following is re "listserv/LISTSERV/Listserv" etc.:

>"      Revised List Processor (LISTSERV@FRECP11), Release 1.5d
         ----------------------------------------------------
             (c) Eric Thomas 1986 Ecole Centrale de Paris


LISTMEMO PP "What is LISTSERV? . . . "

  You can  skip the introduction  and go  to the commands  description by
instructing your text editor to  locate the string "GENCOM" (eg "/GENCOM"
under XEDIT).


***********************************************
* What is LISTSERV? What is Revised LISTSERV? *
***********************************************

    LISTSERV stands for "list server"...  but what does that mean? Origi-
  nally, LISTSERV  was a mailing-list  server which was designed  to make
  group communication easier.  The first version of  LISTSERV, written by
  EDUCOM and  installed at BITNIC  under the userid of  LISTSERV, offered
  basic "mail-exploding" capabilities. People  with a common interest (eg
  network protocols,  issues related to handicapped  people in education,
  system administration problems)  were grouped in a list  which was then
  stored on LISTSERV. They could then communicate with each other by sen-
  ding mail to  a special network address (eg UG-L@BITNIC).  Any piece of
  mail sent to these special user-ids would then be automatically distri-
  buted by the list server to each  and every person on the list. You did
  not have to know all the names and network addresses of the people sub-
  scribed to  the list. The  usual messages  sent by the  mailing systems
  when mail  has been successfully delivered  were sent to LISTSERV  -- a
  big relief  for the sender...  People could join  a list by  asking the
  "list coordinator" (actually the person  who maintains the list server)
  to be added to the list and it was a very convenient way to meet people
  and participate in interesting discussions/forums.

    As LISTSERV became  popular and the number of lists  grew, it started
  to show some weaknesses and  limitations. Even though LISTSERV was ins-
  talled at a central site, it generated a very important traffic because
  there was an important number of  people from distant nodes in the net-
  work. If there  were ten persons of  the same node on a  given list, it
  sent ten copies of each piece of mail to the node. List maintenance be-
  came a problem  because of the evergrowing number of  requests for sub-
  scription. Mail headers became bigger and  bigger, and 30 lines was not
  an uncommon size. Some non-VM  users had troubles accessing the server,
  could not send commands  nor mail to it and received  files in a format
  their system was not able to read.  Non-mail files could not be sent to
  a list. The server was often caught  looping on a rejection mail from a
  network  mailer. No  help  or command  description  was available,  and
  unknown  commands  were  ignored.  Sending a  "HELP"  command  did  not
  produce any kind of answer from the server.

    Revised LISTSERV is  a brand new list processor  which was developped
  at the Ecole  Centrale de Paris in France to  overcome the restrictions
  and lack of functionnality of the first version of LISTSERV. It retains
  the basics of the old LISTSERV and provides good ascending compatibili-
  ty,  while offering  more sophisticated  functions, helpfiles  and more
  user-friendliness. Revised  LISTSERVs can be linked  together to create
  peer lists for better network efficiency in a way that is nearly trans-
  parent for the user. Users can send a command to the server to subscri-
  be to  a list. For more  information about the differences  between the
  BITNIC-type LISTSERV  and Revised LISTSERV, send  the following command
  to the nearest Revised LISTSERV:   Info FEATures   (or just: I FEAT)

!   Additionally,  Revised LISTSERV  provides powerful  file-server func-
! tions which  allow list moderators  to make pertinent  datafiles and/or
! programs available to the subscribers of their lists. For more informa-
! tion on  this new feature, issue  the following command to  the nearest
! Revised LISTSERV:  Info FILE
[end of excerpt]"<

This file is available from most, uh, listservs.
             From:  Peter Graham, Rutgers University Libraries
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU