Friends of Wolkberg Mail List

From: Rob Thomas

First off, this message is as a result of the meeting held at Serala in Wolkberg on Saturday 1 May 1999.

A new email discussion list, titled "wolkberg-friends-l" has been created.

Please, read this whole message if you want to participate. If you want to subscribe, follow the instructions at the end.

What is it for?
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The list allows a conference-type discussion to be carried out between all those subscribed to it and is intended as a place where email discussion can take place. Topics will, naturally, be limited to the Wolkberg Wilderness Area and the surrounding (proposed) biosphere. Anything which relates to Wolkberg is relevant - fauna, flora, hiking, climbing, access arrangements, caves, scientific studies, land claims, you name it - as long as it refers to the greater Wolkberg Area. In other words, a posting about a (eg:) fire at a school is not relevant. A posting about the state of the road up to Serala is. The list will gradually form its own culture as people get to know how it works.

How does this thing work?
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Very simply put, anyone who is subscribed sends the "list-server" a message and the list-server sends that same message to everyone who is subscribed to the list, including the sender of that message.

In more detail, what happens it that you send in a request to the list to subscribe. Your email address is confirmed as being valid (to prevent fake subscriptions with the intent of "spamming" with adverts) and you are then added to the list of subscribers. When someone (who must be subscribed to be permitted to post) sends in a message, the list-server software takes that message, edits the headers to indicate that it comes from the server and then re-emails it to everyone who has subscribed to the list. It also changes the "reply-to" address so that if you hit the "reply" button on your email, your reply is sent directly to the list again.

How do I subscribe?
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There are two forms of the list: a straight list and the digested form.

The straight list resends every message as it is received. The digest first collects a fixed number and "boxes" them into a single email before sending them out. The disadvantage of the second is that a "thread" (continuing topic of discussion may be relatively well advanced before you get to see it.

To subscribe to the NORMAL list, send a blank mail message to: wolkberg-friends-l-subscribe@mountain.org.za

to subscribe to the DIGESTED list, send a blank mail to: wolkberg-friends-digest-l-subscribe@mountain.org.za

When you subscribe you will receive a "intro" file which will contain a great deal more information on the workings of the list and so on.

Thanks

Rob
(Joint list-administrator with Mike Buchanan (mis@yebo.co.za))