There are also Unix utilities which will administer distribution lists. However, dedicated mailing list manager software running on a server offers the greatest functionality and capability for large-scale management of mailing lists. Each list will have a person responsible for the operation of the list. This is the list owner . The list owner will see that the list runs smoothly, provide any necessary information files, answer questions from members, etc.
Some lists are open to anyone.
Others are closed , in which case the list owner will probably invite selected individuals to join the list and add them manually. There are thousands of mailing lists on a vast variety of topics. Locating people with common interests for sources to search for mailing lists on a specific topic. If you cannot find a list on the topic of your interest, you might look at setting up a list yourself. For UK academic users, there are documents on starting up and running a list from Mailbase.