Re: FT List

At 20:54 09/04/97 -0700, you wrote:
>I got unsubscribed from the list. Was there a clearing or something?
>I don't think I did anything bad? :-)	I've resubscribed.
Just to let everyone know the 'rules' I work under.

I get A LOT of error messages from the list - one for every destination
that every email fails to reach. SO I get something like .2 times the
number of messages the number of subscribers squared per day. Thank god
for mail filtering :-). I emptied the box they get filtered into at 9AM
and now (Midday BST) there are 155 unread error messages in there. I
have to deal with it somehow.

These errors basically boil down to two sorts. 

The first sort are straight SMTP errors. Basically these are down to the
computer you download your mail off being down, busy etc. 

The second thought are the 'not found' errors - one of the name or host
in your address can't be found.

Basically, to keep my mail work in at least reasonable order, The rules
I follow are..

Second type errors - 5 errors or more over two days equals unsubscribed.
A name lookup fault is possible, but not for that period. Basically,
people who meet this criteria have either cancelled their accounts or
their systems are having real problems and the list sending more mail to
them will only make it worse.

First type errors are trickier, as it's possible to get that sort of
error just because people haven't checked their mail in a while. So with
those I am a bit more lenient - it needs at least of these 10 errors
spread over a whole week to get someone unsubbed.

The upshot of this is serious problems at your end may get you unsubbed.
As can going away on holiday and not clearing your email account
beforehand.  It may seem a little harsh to unsub people at all, but I
have to keep the list in working order as well as I can. I try not to
unsub people unless I am sure it's what's required and people always
have to option of resubbing once the problem is sorted out - as yet I
haven't needed	(and I don't think Adam ever did) bar anyone.

So, basically, If your ISP is reasonably competent and you read your
email fairly regularly, it should never be something you should worry
about.

			TTFN
				Jon
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