Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!umriscc!mcs213f.cs.umr.edu!mcastle
From: mcastle@mcs213f.cs.umr.edu (Mike Castle {Nexus})
Newsgroups: comp.binaries.ibm.pc.d
Subject: Re: LISTSERV at RPI
Message-ID: <2059@umriscc.isc.umr.edu>
Date: 31 Jan 91 06:53:48 GMT
References: <59488@aurs01.UUCP>
Sender: news@umriscc.isc.umr.edu
Organization: University of Missouri - Rolla
Lines: 37

In article <59488@aurs01.UUCP> luce@aurw46.UUCP (J. Luce) writes:
>
> I sent a mail to the list server at RPI with the body saying:
>
>GET PDGET HELP PCSERV -L
                ^^^^^^^^^  

Should be no space between the 'V' and the '-'.

PCSERV-L is a listserv discussion group.  Listserv's are a series of email
servers set up on BITNET.  The have discussions very similiar to those here
on usenet (many, such as rec.humor.funny.d are 'tied' together, that is, the
same things are sent out from the listservs as is posted to usenet, and some
sites carry usenet version of listserv discussions, such as the bitnet.listserv
or whatever the format is).  Listserv's, in addition to handling discussions,
can be configured to keep automatic logs of the discussions, act as an 
archive for other files (both related and unrelated to the discussions), and
perform services such as RPI and NODAK do.  Listserv's are primarily used by
BITNET folx as many of them don't have acess to usenet, though most listservs
can be accessed via internet (I'm not sure if all of them know how to use 
gateways or not....).  Each listserv can have many different discussions it
keeps track of, pretty much knows about all of the other listservs and what
discussions they maintain.  This way, a user can communicate with his nearest
server but be in contact with all of them.  More info can be obtained by
sending the following in the _body_ of an email message to the listserv:

HELP

nifty command, that  :->

Sorry to ramble on incoherently, but listservs are a favorite topic of mine
and I thought this info might be of some interest to people out there.
-- 
Mike Castle (Nexus) S087891@UMRVMA.UMR.EDU (preferred)       | ERROR:  Invalid
                mcastle@mcs213k.cs.umr.edu (unix mail-YEACH!)| command 'HELP'
Life is like a clock:  You can work constantly, and be right | try 'HELP'
all the time, or not work at all, and be right twice a day.  |