How To Unsubscribe From Any Email List
[I don't know where this came from, so I can't include attribution,
but it's handy information for those who have lost the administrative
details associated with a list from which they need to subscribe. -Ed.]
For the purposes of this memo, let's assume you're on an email list
called WHATEVER at SITE.EDU. The email alias is
<WHATEVER@SITE.EDU>. (If the list has a name like "WHATEVER-L",
you should try step 4 first.)
- First, send a request to the "-request" alias.
For our example, that would be <WHATEVER-request@SITE.EDU>. This is
usually read by a human being, so write accordingly.
- If you get no response from the above, send mail
to the "majordomo" alias. That's <majordomo@SITE.EDU> for our
example. If the list is administered by the majordomo software,
you'll get instructions for unsubscribing mailed back to you.
- If you get no response, send mail to the "owner-"
alias. For our example, <owner-WHATEVER@SITE.EDU>. This should
go to the human who administers the list.
- If you get no response, send mail to "LISTSERV".
For our example, that address would be <LISTSERV@SITE.EDU>. The
text of your message should be "SIGNOFF WHATEVER".
- If you get no response, send mail to the
"listproc" alias. For our example, that address would be
<listproc@SITE.EDU>. The text of your message should be
"unsubscribe WHATEVER".
- If you get no response, send mail to the site
"postmaster". For our example, that address is
<postmaster@SITE.EDU>. Mention that you tried the previous five
steps, to no avail.
- If you get no response, send mail to "root". Our
example address is <root@SITE.EDU>. Mention that you tried the
previous six steps, to no avail.
- If-- and only if-- all the above fail, send a message to
the list itself. Make it courteous, particularly since the vast
majority of the people reading it can't do a thing about it.
Try to avoid setting off a bunch of "me too" messages by saying
something like, "Please don't chime in with a bunch of 'I want
to unsubscribe too' messages."
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