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LANTRA-L@SEGATE.SUNET.SE is the address you use for posting messages to the list.
LISTSERV@SEGATE.SUNET.SE is the address you use for sending commands regarding your subscription.
LANTRA-L-REQUEST@SEGATE.SUNET.SE is the address you use to reach list owners if you have a problem with another list member or if you have a question or a problem that is not covered in the User's Guide.
All postings to LANTRA-L are automatically archived in logbooks. You can read the logs or search the archives for ongoing and previous discussions at http://segate.sunet.se/archives/lantra-l.html. We recommend you do this before subscribing to get an idea of the volume and dynamics of the list. (See Section 5.6.)
The LANTRA-L User's Guide and information files etc. are at http://www.oocities.org/Athens/7110/lantra.htm. We recommend you read the User's Guide to learn how to get the most out of the list and manage the volume as efficiently as possible.
CONTENTS OF USER'S GUIDE
This User's Guide answers some of the most frequently asked questions regarding LANTRA-L. Please read through the guide before sending any messages to LANTRA-L, and then save it for future reference.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Lantra-l addresses
1. Preferred format for messages
1.1 Headers and subject line
1.2 Message text
1.3 Content
1.4 Virus warnings, chain letters
and urban legends
2. "Reply" and Reply to" functions
3. Replying privately
4. Objectionable messages
5. What is LISTSERV
5.1 LISTSERV commands
5.2 Stopping mail when on vacation
5.3 Resuming mail upon return
5.4 Digest format
5.5 Index format
5.5 Archives of previous messages
5.6 List of subscribers
5.7 Finding a member's e-mail address
5.8 LISTSERV doesn't accept my
commands
6. Closing or changing e-mail account
7. Lantra-l mail suddenly stops
7.1 Problem with the Internet
in general.
7.2 Problem with your supplier
7.3 Change in your subscription
7.4 Have been unsubscribed
7.5 Change of address
7.6 Problem with LISTSERV
7.7 If none of the above have
produced an answer
8. Useful resources
1. "IS THERE A PREFERRED FORMAT TO USE FOR MESSAGES SENT TO THE LIST?"
Yes. The traffic on this list is very high. Use the established headers and include keywords in the subject line that are truly representative of the nature and content of the message. This makes it easier to sort through the volume of mail and, most importantly, will ensure that your message gets to the people who can help (some people filter out anything that does not have an established header).
1.1 GUIDELINES ON HEADERS AND SUBJECT LINE
To make sorting through LANTRA-L mail easier, the following headers are used:
Keep the content suitable for a family audience, and refrain from posting cultural, sexist or religious humor, as these could be offensive to some members.
The sub-headers below are also widely used.
1.2 GUIDELINES ON MESSAGE TEXT
When you reply to a post, include just enough of the previous message for readers to remember what the issues were and remove the excess baggage. Likewise remove original signatures from the quoted material but make sure that the sender's name is clearly indicated. Doing so will make your message clearer and avoid confusion.
Avoid posting long articles without querying the list first for potential interest, and DO NOT attach documents, binary files, etc. to your message. Attachments can bog down the server and have been known to paralyze the list for several days. Besides, most subscribers will not open unsolicited attachments and will only get annoyed at the waste of their disk space, time and money. If you have something to offer, post a brief note saying: "I have this thing to offer. If anyone is interested, let me know privately and I'll send it to you."
Lantrans have sensitive ears and do not respond very well to shouting, so avoid the use of UPPER CASE letters. For emphasis, it is customary to use *asterisks*, "quotes" or _under score_. Insert a space between paragraphs, indicate text quoted from other messages clearly and, most importantly, read your message at least twice before firing it off to all 1000+ members of the list. If you use a signature, please keep it as short as possible.
Last but not least: be tolerant. Nobody is perfect. If someone posts an overlong message or an attachment by mistake, take a deep breath or step away from the keyboard for a few minutes. If you still want to complain about it after that, send a polite message directly to the sender, NOT to the whole list. Remember that a friendly approach can be more effective than a flame.
Every time you send a message to LANTRA-L, it is duplicated 1000+ times and sent to more than 60 countries. To avoid wasting bandwidth and to keep the volume to a manageable level, it is important to keep to subjects of professional and public interest. Post only messages that fall within the objectives of the list (see above) and that can be of interest to the list members. Messages on strictly personal or unrelated topics should not be broadcast to the list unless there is an emergency.
Flames, offensive or rude messages, and vulgar language are not in keeping with the LANTRA-L philosophy and should not be posted. Sometimes it may be wise to take a few deep breaths or sleep on your message before sending it to the list, and sometimes it may be best to not reply at all. This can save you time and energy, and spare you needless aggravation.
1.4 SHOULD I POST VIRUS WARNINGS, CHAIN LETTERS OR URBAN LEGENDS?
These are not really welcomed on the list. Most of these hoaxes have been floating around the net for years and have been posted to the list several times already. A simple Internet search with keywords "hoax" or "virus warnings" or "urban legends" will yield links to several sites where you can find out more about these phenomena that will help you curb your initial impulse to post these on the list. However, if after checking out your information at these sites you have determined that you have authentic news about a "real" situation, feel free to inform the list under the header COMP or INFO.
2. WHY DO "REPLY" and "REPLY-TO" SEND MY MESSAGE TO THE WHOLE LIST?
In an effort to stimulate discussion, the list is structured so that both these buttons send your message to the entire list. This said, some e-mail software can override that default, sending the reply to the private address. Always check the MAIL TO field of your message before sending - don't rely on the reply function of your software, which may not show all headers (i.e. the fields From:, To:, Reply-to:, etc.).
3. WHEN SHOULD I REPLY PRIVATELY RATHER THAN TO THE WHOLE LIST?
Posting to the list is sort of like getting up on a podium and taking the microphone to make an announcement to a large crowd. There are many types of messages that need not be posted publicly, but that are better to send privately. Here are a few examples:
Strictly personal messages sent to the whole list unnecessarily increase the volume, making sorting and reading mail a tedious and time-consuming task They can be a source of annoyance to some members, especially in countries where phone service and Internet access is expensive. Please show some consideration and exercise your judgment when sending messages to the list.
If a thread lingers with just a handful of people still contributing to it, take it to personal e-mail and do not clog the list with something that has been demonstrated to have limited interest.
4. WHAT SHOULD I DO IF I RECEIVE AN OBJECTIONABLE MESSAGE?
If you ever receive a list message which you consider to be objectionable, ask the list owners at lantra-l-request@segate.sunet.se to contact the sender, and explain why you think the material is inappropriate. The list owners are responsible for focusing the scope and purpose of the list, and for making sure that users do not contravene the policy on the acceptable use of LANTRA-L. You may also wish to approach the sender by replying via a private message directly to his/her mailbox, but NOT through the list. If you need help to resolve the problem, contact the list owners at lantra-l-request@segate.sunet.se and we will do our best to help.
LISTSERV is an automatic mailing list manager program. Each mailing list has its own e-mail address which LISTSERV controls. LISTSERV forwards the mail it receives to the appropriate lists and manages your individual subscription settings and commands (see Section 5.1). It also performs other functions like catching spurious or faulty messages before they are forwarded, sends automatic messages when applicable, blocks messages that exceed a certain length, etc.
Below is a list of LISTSERV commands. When sending commands to listserv@segate.sunet.se, do not include other text than commands and remove any automatic signature from the message.
If you want to Then you must type the command
--------------- ------------------------------
Cancel your subscription unsub lantra-l
Unsubscribe from all lists everywhere unsub * (netwide
Resubscribe, or change your name
if already subscribed SUBscribe LANTRA-L Your Name
Stop receiving mail temporarily SET LANTRA-L NOMAIL
Start receiving mail again SET LANTRA-L MAIL
See who is subscribed to LANTRA-L REVIEW LANTRA-L
Request messages in Digested format SET LANTRA-L DIGESTS
Request summary in Indexed format SET LANTRA-L INDEX
Scan the list's membership for a name
or address SCAN LANTRA-L text
Check your subscription options QUERY LANTRA-L
Set short mail headers of incoming mail SET LANTRA-L SHORTHDR
For a list of LISTSERV commands, send the following one-line command to listserv@segate.sunet.se: INFO REFCARD. You will receive a file entitled LISTSERV.REFCARD.
NOTE: Be sure to send these messages to listserv@segate.sunet.se, NOT to the LANTRA-L address!
5.2 CAN I STOP MAIL BEFORE I GO AWAY ON VACATION, OR DO I HAVE TO UNSUBSCRIBE?
You can stop mail temporarily by sending the following one-line command to listserv@segate.sunet.se: SET LANTRA-L NOMAIL (Note: "NOMAIL" is one word)
5.3 HOW DO I START RECEIVING MAIL AGAIN WHEN I COME BACK?
When you want mail to start arriving again, send the following one-line command to listserv@segate.sunet.se: SET LANTRA-L MAIL
NOTE: Be sure to send these messages to listserv@segate.sunet.se, and NOT to the LANTRA-L address!
5.4 DOES LANTRA-L EXIST IN A DIGEST FORMAT?
A digest is available to subscribers as a subscriber defined OPTION. Instead of receiving individual mail messages, you may elect to receive the DIGEST of all the daily mail messages in one message. This digest is unedited and will contain all messages processed by LISTSERV to LANTRA-L subscribers in a 24-hour period.
You may request the DIGEST by sending the following one-line command to listserv@segate.sunet.se: SET LANTRA-L DIGEST
You may cancel your DIGEST option by sending the following one-line command to listserv@segate.sunet.se: SET LANTRA-L MAIL
NOTE: Be sure to send these messages to listserv@segate.sunet.se, NOT to the LANTRA-L address!
5.5 DOES LANTRA-L EXIST IN AN INDEX FORMAT?
An index is available to subscribers as a subscriber defined OPTION. Instead of receiving individual mail messages or all messages in one large digest, you may elect to receive only an index of the topics discussed in a digest cycle (24 hours). You may then order the messages you are interested in.
You may request the INDEX by sending the following one-line command to listserv@segate.sunet.se: SET LANTRA-L INDEX
You may cancel your INDEX option by sending the following one-line command to listserv@segate.sunet.se: SET LANTRA-L MAIL
NOTE: Be sure to send these messages to listserv@segate.sunet.se, NOT to the LANTRA-L address!
5.6 CAN I ACCESS PREVIOUS MESSAGES? (Useful for new subscribers and for when you've been nomail and want to catch up on the news.)
Yes. All LANTRA-L messages are automatically archived. The archives are arranged in weekly logs. You may search the list archives interactively at http://segate.sunet.se/archives/lantra-l.html.
If you do not have WWW access, you can send the following one-line command to listserv@segate.sunet.se: INDEX LANTRA-L. You will then receive a list of the available logs. To obtain the logs, send the following one-line command to listserv@segate.sunet.se: GET LANTRA-L +Filename
NOTE: The filename is the name of the log file you want. For example: GET LANTRA-L LOG9512D will get you the log of the fourth week of December, 1995.
5.7 HOW CAN I GET A LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS TO LANTRA-L?
To receive a current list of subscribers, send the following one-line command to listserv@segate.sunet.se: REVIEW LANTRA-L. You will receive a list of subscribers, arranged alphabetically by e-mail node (the part of the e-mail address after the "@" sign), not by subscriber's name.
To receive the list sorted more or less alphabetically by subscriber's last name, send the following one-line command to listserv@segate.sunet.se: REVIEW LANTRA-L BY NAME
To receive the list sorted by country, send the following one-line command to listserv@segate.sunet.se: REVIEW LANTRA-L BY COUNTRY
NOTE: Be sure to send these messages to listserv@segate.sunet.se, NOT to the LANTRA-L address!
5.8 HOW CAN I FIND A MEMBER'S E-MAIL ADDRESS?
If you are looking for a particular person or group of subscribers, send the following one-line command to lestserv@segate.sunet.se: SCAN LANTRA-L + Your search string. Ex.: to look for a person called Richard or Rickard, send the command SCAN LANTRA-L RIC . If you want a list of all subscribers listed under Spain, send the following one-line command to listserv@segate.sunet.se: SCAN LANTRA-L .ES
NOTE: Be sure to send these messages to listserv@segate.sunet.se, NOT to the LANTRA-L address!
5.9 WHAT SHOULD I DO IF LISTSERV@SEGATE.SUNET.SE DOESN'T ACCEPT MY COMMANDS?
When you subscribe, LISTSERV automatically copies your address from the mail header and inserts it in the list of subscribers. LISTSERV cannot recognize aliases or temporary addresses that your mail system may assign to you after you have subscribed. This is likely why your commands to LISTSERV are being rejected and you are receiving the following message "You are not subscribed to the LANTRA-L list".
If this is the case, send a message to lantra-l-request@segate.sunet.se and the list owners will help you solve the problem.
NOTE: Be sure to send these messages to lantra-l-request@segate.sunet.se, NOT to the LANTRA-L or LISTSERV address!
6. WHAT SHOULD I DO IF I'M CHANGING ADDRESSES OR CLOSING MY MAILING ACCOUNT?
Non-existent accounts and overflowing mailboxes bounce mail back to LISTSERV. This can disrupt the operation of the server. System Operators and list owners can unsubscribe any address causing such problems, but we prefer that you notify us in advance as a courtesy.
Please remember to inform the LANTRA-L management at lantra-l-request@segate.sunet.se if there will be any changes in your e-mail account. For instance, you should advise us if you close the mailing account with which you are subscribed to LANTRA-L or want to receive LANTRA-L messages at a new address. You should also advise us if the machine at which you receive the messages is going to be changed for a newer one.
If you are leaving an institution for an extended time or for good, please don't forget to unsubscribe.
7. WHAT SHOULD I DO IF MAIL FROM LANTRA-L SUDDENLY STOPS?
If you haven't received any LANTRA-L mail for at least 24 hours, follow the steps below before you panic.
There are several possible reasons for the mail stoppage. Be sure to check them all before you contact the list-owners.
QUERY LANTRA-L
You should get a reply that looks like this *