RFC 1211 (rfc1211) - Page 3 of 54

Problems with the maintenance of large mailing lists

RFC 1211              Problems with Mailing Lists             March 1991


   SMTP EXPN feature.  Then the postmaster is notified.

   If the error report is about a host being unknown, the programs
   "whathost", "dig", "ping", and "traceroute" may be used to find the
   problem.  However, getting the problem fixed may require
   communication with host and domain administrators.

   What to do if problems can't be resolved: Delete the offending entry
   from the list that may eventually cause the following response: "I
   used to be on the ietf list, how come I am not getting the messages
   any more?" (See Appendix A.)

3.  Typical Problems

   In this section we discuss typical and frequent problems that occur
   with large mailing lists.

3.1  Misdirected Error Reports

   The most frequent problem is that error reports are sent to the
   author of the message rather than the list owner.  One way this can
   happen is when there is trouble with the author's host not connecting
   to another host along the route before it reaches ISI where the
   mailing list is.

   At ISI the SMTP "from" information is added when the message is
   distributed to the list so that hosts following the SMTP protocol
   will send their error reports to the list owner.  However, not all
   hosts do this properly.

   Another problem is that some machines do not pay attention to the
   SMTP information about where to send error reports.

3.2  Sublists

   What is a sublist?  It is a mailbox with an alias-name that expands
   to a mailing-list or group of recipients.  There are many sublists on
   our mailing lists.

   When a user requests that a mailbox be added to a list that looks
   like an exploder, the following message is sent:

      We ask that all list maintainters of exploder mailboxes (an
      alias-name that expands to a mailing-list or group of recipients)
      set up some sort of ownership at their site, for their list.  What
      this means is, is any mailbox on your list is invalid, the error
      message will go to you (the list owner), and you can delete that
      mailbox from your list.



Westine & Postel