[email removed] (Roger Sanger) writes:
> I was wondering how the TML and the TNE-pocket were formed. Would it be
> difficult for someone (such as myself) to administer another discussion
> group, say, one on the Regency?
The TML was formed after I posted a note to rec.games.frp (now
rec.games.frp.misc) to see if there was any interest. I then went to my
UNIX Systems Admin and set up sendmail aliases (controlled by the system
admin) that referenced a file that I owned and could modify (via the
:include: directive). It's important to have a list, owner-list,
list-request addresses in order to follow proper list etiquette. In that
file I listed the recipients. All that remained was to let the people
know it existed! The digesting, auto-reply, and other fancy stuff came
later (I recommend that only for a large list).
Administering the group means adding and deleting people from the
distribution file, answering questions, stirring the pot to keep
discussion going, and dealing effectively with bounced mail (which
sometimes takes technical savvy). I administer TML via remote,
programmatic additions and deletions from the list files on
engrg.uwo.ca. When it was on my own computer, I just used a text file
editor on the list.
By the way, today I added our 500th TML member: [email removed] (Hi RKFM,
pity I don't know your real name). It's prophetic that it's an AOL
address, AOL members have flooded the TML membership in the last year.
There are now 500 member addresses on the active list: 14 are on
temporary hiatus, 396 receive the nightly digest, 88 receive the
biweekly digest, and 6 receive the archive bundles; there are also 2
prospective new members awaiting address confirmation.
James
__ __/ / / Internet Traveller Mailing List, Administrator
/ / / / / James T. Perkins in Eugene, Oregon, USA
__/ __/__/__/ _____/ [email removed]