Handling subscription requests

[tcmay@netcom.com (Timothy C. May)]

Rishab asked earlier if there isn't some way that Majordomo could
automatically filter the requests that go this list instead of to the
Majordom agent.

Pretty unlikely, for various reasons:

- The requests would be poorly formed, such as "Can anyone tell me how
to subscribe?" and I can't imagine anything short of a CPU-intensive
natural language processor able to deduce the actions needed.
Certainly I don't want to get added again, or be sent a message, every
time "Pretty Good Autosubscriber" sees the word "subscribe" in one of
my messages! (Yes, I can imagine an algorithm--"if not already a
subscriber and mentions subscribe, then...")

- In any case, this is very far from what Majordomo now does. In fact,
Majordomo is very picky about the command syntax it expects to see.

- And the CPUi-intensive filtering to look for the right magic words
would be unwelcome. Especially if every message to
cypherpunks@toad.com had to be examined! (Again, I can imagine way to
reduce this, such as only looking closely at nonsubscriber messages.
But not in Majordomo's current feature set.)

So what to do?

Frnakly, I don't think it's too big a problem. Only a couple of these
hit the list per week, even after the list has gotten some publicity
someplace like "Wired."

Here's what I try to do, when I remember. When I see one of these
requests I reply and attach this message:


How to Subscribe to the Cypherpunks List


This message is just an informal tip sheet on how to get on and off
the Cypherpunks list, sent manually by me to people who ask how they
can join the list.

The Cypherpunks list is managed automatically by the "Majordomo"
program, which is commonly used for mailing lists. Command syntax may
be familiar to you from other lists.

To subscribe:

* Send a message to: majordomo@toad.com

* No subject is needed, or is used

* In the *body* section, include only the following:

subscribe cypherpunks


* This will subscribe you with the address from which you sent the
message. If you wish to subscribe with a different address, for some
odd reason, send a "help cypherpunks" message instead.

* Unsubscribe by sending the message: unsubscribe cypherpunks

* A list of current subscribers can be gotten by sending the message
"who cypherpunks" to the same address. Be forewarned--your membership
on the list will be known to others. (Hal Finney and others have
talked about providing secondary mailing list, which can even be
encrypted.) 

Comments:

- Write the above information down somewhere. Do not send unsubscribe
messages to the main list (cypherpunks@toad.com). And the address
"cypherpunks-request@toad.com" probably will not work either. Use
majordomo@toad.com. 

- The list is a high volume one. Fifty messages a day is common. If
you can't handle this, unsubscribe. Or read your mail several times a
day and make liberal use of the "delete" function.

- The list was started in 1992 and has roughly 600 subscribers.

- If you are new to the list, read for a while before posting. Be
especially polite by not asking "dumb" questions like "Why is Clipper
a bad idea?" and "Can anybody break this code?" (It is sometimes said 
there are no dumb questions. I disagree.)

- You will also receive a longer welcome message after your
subscription has been successfully processed.

- The subscriber list has gotten corrupted several times, due to disk
space problems. If you receive no traffic for several hours or more,
do a "who cypherpunks" to see if this has happened again. Either
resubscribe in the usual way, or wait for the list to (maybe) be
restored.

- If you find yourself getting two copies of every message, see if you
are subscribed under two different mailing addresses. (The mail headers
should tell you.) Then unsubscribe the address you don't want to use.

This should answer the most obvious questions. Feel free to pass this
message on to folks who ask about subscribing.


--Tim May





-- 
..........................................................................
Timothy C. May         | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,  
tcmay@netcom.com       | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
408-688-5409           | knowledge, reputations, information markets, 
W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA  | black markets, collapse of governments.
Higher Power: 2^859433 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available.
"National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."