*BARNEY*
 CAVMEN - Chicago Area
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Use of the VM Listserv


What the VM Listserv is, and how it works.

The University of Arkansas is home for the VM Listserv discussion list. This is an important VM resource which is available to anyone in the world with E-Mail access to the Internet.

You subscribe to the list, and subsequently you are copied with all mail that is sent to the list server. To use the list, you send an E-Mail containing a question or problem description to the list server. The list server sends your question to everyone currently subscribed. Anyone wishing to respond to you may reply to the message (back to the list server), and the list server in turn will send their response to everyone subscribed.

This way, all of those subscribed will see everyone's questions and answers, and hopefully learn something!

By asking a question on the Listserv, you are, in effect, asking every person from around the world who has subscribed to the list. This includes a lot of very knowledgeable VM people! Product developers and support people from IBM and other vendors regularly monitor the VM Listserv and frequently interact, making this a very powerful medium.

The Listserv should NOT be used as a replacement for the normal support channels for IBM and other vendors. We recommend that after you subscribe, you spend some period of time monitoring list activity before sending anything, in order to get a feel for what is appropriate, and what is not.

You should be prepared to receive a large volume of E-Mail from the list server. The actual volume of list activity fluctuates from practically none, to over a hundred notes a day. If you do not feel that you can handle this, please DO NOT subscribe. In any case, be prepared to terminate your subscription and leave the list, if the volume becomes too much for you.

How to subscribe to the VM Listserv.

To subscribe to the list, send an E-Mail to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.UARK.EDU with a blank subject and only "subscribe IBMVM" (without the quotes) in the body of the note. Please note that this is NOT the same E-Mail address that you will use to communicate with the list server after you have subscribed.

You will receive a response with a subject line of "Command confirmation request (______)". Follow the instructions in the note and reply to it as requested.

You will then receive a message with a subject line of "You are now subscribed to the IBMVM list". Read this message carefully, it contains information on how to use the list and even more important, how to terminate your subscription and leave the list. WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU PRINT AND KEEP THIS NOTE OR STORE IT FOR FUTURE REFERENCE!

Now that you have subscribed you will begin to get messages from the list server.

How to use the VM Listserv.

After you have subscribed, to send a message to all of the other subscribers, address your E-Mail to IBMVM@LISTSERV.UARK.EDU