Subscription addresses

[Nathan Sivin nsivin@xxxxxxxx]

I am regularly inundated in error messages when something is wrong with
a subscription address. The most frequent problem that forces me to
unsubscribe people was clearly described in a message I just got:

≪I thank you for updating my address on the list server. However, I
learned something from seeing the welcome message. It explains why
previous efforts to get messages to the list never worked. Both my new
address and the last one were "alias" addresses. That is, if used in a
message, they forwarded the message to my ACTUAL address, which is
currently on CompuServe. For many purposes such a forwarding address is
very useful, as I can change my ISP any time without updating everyone
from whom I'm likely to receive messages. However, if I understand the
welcome message, the list processor is incompatible with such "alias
addresses". Since many people use such addresses, I wonder if some
allowance for them is feasible.≫

Cheers,
--
Nathan Sivin
History and Sociology of Science
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia PA 19104-6304
(215) 898-7454
nsivin@xxxxxxxx