In article <1992Jun28.152019.5655 at gserv1.dl.ac.uk>, BIONET at EARN.FRCGM51 writes:
|>|> In recent postings, D. Davison made reference to something called a
|> "Info-GCG list". What's that ? Seems interesting ! How could I be a happy
|> member ?
|>
There are a couple of "lists", which are used to exchange information.
Some of them are dedicated for exchange of ideas, suggestions, flames
with respect to a particular software package. The one mentioned,
INFO-GCG at UTORONTO.bitnet, particularly discusses features related to the
Genetics Computer Group sequence analysis package. There is another list,
DIBUG at COMP.BIOZ.UNIBAS.CH, which discusses features of the BIOSYM software
on a variety of issues. Another list of interest is CHEMISTRY at OSC.EDU which
discusses QCPE and related quantum chemistry and similar programs. In contrast
to the BIOSCI bulletin boards, which are also gatewayed to the USENET news
system, the lists mentioned above work as "exploders", meaning that you
send a mail to this adress and it becomes resent to all members of the "list".
The basic idea is that such a mechanism is simle to set up, and mostly
very easy to administer. Historically, lists were the first tool to make
electronic group communication. Today, the USENET NEWS system should be used
whereever possible, because it transports all messages on a central basis, and
the individual traffic is much less. in USENET, you don't need to subscribe
by sending mail to list administrators, you just do that locally on your
normal newsreader software. The list above was in no way complete. Today,
most of the hardware vendors have NEWS groups which they listen to, but to
my knowledge CONVEX Computer Corp. has still a mailing list for exchange
of particular information. Nearly all packages available to the public have
eMail lists. In order not to endanger the non-profit character of the nets,
the mailing groups are usually not maintained by the vendors but rather
at a user's site to serve as a forum which is listened to by a particular
industry vendor, but with no real commitments. Additionally, a lot of 'true'
science flows accross that list which makes them more useful than if it were
just advertisment mailings. If you have a full USENET feed, the bit.listserv
hierarchy has them all. You can use GOPHER to peek in the U Michigan State
USENET NEWS archives for more information.
LIST subscription has one important item to remember.
===========================================================================
N E V E R send a subscribe message to the list itself!
*********
===========================================================================
The consequence would be that you send a 'suscribe' and all members of the
list would get this mail!!!
Therefore, the basic rule would be that you try to find out which list
server is behind the stage. In BITNET or EARN the LISTSERV is quite common.
The method to subscribe to such a group would be
Mail to LISTSERV at UTORONTO.BITNET
(or, within BITNET or EARN )
Mail to LISTSERV at UTORONTO
and then send
SUBSCRIBE INFO-GCG your_full_name
If you are using internet-style list servers, then append the name
'request' to the list. In one of the the two examples above, use
Mail to DIBUG-REQUEST at COMP.BIOZ.UNIBAS.CH
and then send the subscribe command as above. This mostly helps.
Remember that on the BIOSCI lists, it is different.
If you need to receive BIOSCI messages by e-mail, please send all
subscription requests, subscription cancellations, or any other
questions about using BIOSCI to the Internet address
biosci at genbank.bio.net
in Europe,
biosci at daresbury.ac.uk
As your request will be read by a human, there is no need for special
syntax in your message.
Maybe that helps. Remember that there is also some information
accessible via GOPHER and WAIS.
Regards
Reinhard
--
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