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.
Users can send a command to the server to subscribe to a list.
List Get a description of all lists. If you have misspelled your name when issuing this command in the first place, you will be able to correct it by re-issuing it without having to sign off from the list first. In that case no notification is sent to the list owner. Note that it is not necessary to supply your full name if you have already signed up to another list of the same server. The name you provided on your first signup command will automatically be used for the new subcription.