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Q: What is a mailing list?

A: A mailing list is simply a list of people all interested in the topic of the list. It's a discussion group. There are two principal types: One allows everyone who's "Subscribed," or part of the group, to post their ideas or responses to others' ideas. The other type doesn't allow anyone but the moderator to post or approve the subscribers' posts before they go on the list.

Q: How did I get on a mailing list?
A: This can happen a number of ways. It's possible that you subscribed and didn't realize it, or have forgotten that you did it (happens to the best of us, right?). It's possible that the moderator of the list àsubscribed you for some reason -- you should get in touch with him about that. And finally, it's possible the whole thing was a big mistake. Fortunately, unsubscribing is quick and painless.

Q: How can I be removed from a list?
A: There are a couple ways of getting off the list. The easiest is to send an email to LIST-request@tanzanet.org and put "unsubscribe" (without the quotes) in the Subject line of the email.

Q: How can I join a mailing list?
A: Thank you for your interest to join the TANZANET Organization mailing list. Membership to this 'closed' mailinglist is open to all Tanzanians and all those interested in things Tanzanian. You need to apply for the membership from your regional representative by supplying the following information:
1. Your full name; 2. Your email address; 3. The geographical location of your residence and 4. An annual fee of 10.00 US Dollars.

For further information such as the email adress of your regional representative, please visit the following web page: http://tanzanet.org/int/info/membership.html


Q: How do mailing lists work?
A: That's a complicated question to answer. Here's the basic idea: A list of subscribers' email addresses is stored on the server. Each subscriber has a list of Flags associated with his email address that determines how the mailing list software delivers the messages to him. An incoming message is checked by certain list parameters, where it is perhaps refused (depending on how the moderator has configured the list), and then sent to every member in the list of subscribers.

Q: What can a mailing list be used for?
A: Anything you want! Mailing lists are discussion forums with the added convenience that not everyone has to be present at a given time.

Q: What's a "Post?"
A: A Post is a message sent to a mailing list.

Q: What's a "Flame?"
A: A Flame is a euphemism for an insult sent between users on a list. Generally, it's due to one subscriber sending what someone else considers a "dumb question," and that someone else responding with somewhat less than tasteful comments. If you're upset by flaming on your list, please let your moderator know. If he's unable to take care of the situation, please let us know.


Q: How do I post on my list?
A: Assuming you're allowed to post on the list (ask the moderator, or see the list webpage), simply send your message to LISTNAME@tanzanet.org, where "LISTNAME" is the name of your list. If this isn't working, you should contact your moderator.

Q: What's appropriate for my list?
A: It really all depends on the list itself. Some moderators are more tolerant of straying off-topic than others, etc. In general: don't use any lude/questionable language, keep your post on-topic, don't flame anyone, and don't ask a question that's answered in this FAQ or on your list's website.

Q: What if I receive SPAM?
A: If your list receives SPAM (mail asking you to go someplace and buy something, usually), you should immediately report it to us. Your moderator should remove whoever made the SPAMming post, but that's really up to him to do. If things get out of hand, let us know.

Q: If someone on a list is bothering me, what should I do?
A: If you're being bothered/hassled by someone on your list, notify the administrator. Often, if it's happening on the list, the moderator will already be taking the steps necessary to remove the offendor. If you're not satisfied with how things are being handled, let us know.

Q: Can I send files (attachments) to the list?
A: In general, this is a bad idea. Even small files (images, for example) take enormous amounts of network resources to send to every user on the list. Thus, they are disabled by default. The same goes for HTML emails, actually.

Q: What's "VACATION" mode?
A: Vacation is a flag you can set on any list you're subscribed to. It essentially means that you won't receive any list traffic until you unset it. Any time you head out of town for a long weekend, you should set Vacation if the list(s) you're on has a lot of traffic to avoid filling your mailbox.

Q: Do you offer Digest mode?
A: Yes, all TANZANET mailing lists offer Digest mode.