At 09:12 AM 3/15/01, you wrote:
>I believe that Steve Coker is the moderator of the list and sometimes
>they will do just that---moderate, then all messages go through them


Allow me to briefly explain how the Forum works.  I am the "owner" or 
"administrator" of the Forum.  I setup and manage how the service 
operates.  I try to resolve problems when they arise.  I pay all the bills.

But, I don't "moderate" the Forum by screening messages.  Messages that are 
properly addressed to the Forum by anyone on the current subscribers list 
are distributed to the entire Forum without prior review or 
censoring.  Provided that the message passes the automated criteria setup 
on the Forum email server.

Messages the server doesn't distribute include:

  * Messages larger than the allowed maximum (currently 30k).

  * Messages sent in HTML format.

  * Messages with attachments.

  * Messages that fail the spam filter.

  * Messages with a FROM address that isn't on the subscribers list.

The server forwards messages like these to me, the Forum Manager.  I 
receive many hundreds of messages like these every week.  My system is 
configured to automatically sort them into folders.  From time to time I 
review the accumulated messages in the {non-subscriber} category.  Most of 
them are spam emails which I ignore.  I send a pre-written "instructions" 
message to people who are trying to use the Forum but failed the subscriber 
test.  Sometimes I forward the {non-subscriber} messages to the Forum when 
it appears worthwhile.

Hope this quick explanation helps everyone understand how the Forum operates.

Steven J. Coker
Forum Manager
[email protected]

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