karl@grebyn.com (Karl Nyberg) (12/17/89)
Since several people have asked...
Info-Ada is a digest form electronic mailing list. It is bidirectionally
gatewayed with the usenet newsgroup comp.lang.ada, on which the articles
appear in an individual form.
The mailing address to use to submit messages for inclusion in the digest
(and for forwarding to the newsgroup) is info-ada@ajpo.sei.cmu.edu. The
mailing address to use for administrative matters (change my address, mail
me this back issue, etc.) is info-ada-REQUEST@ajpo.sei.cmu.edu
(capitalization only for emphasis of the difference).
Mail for the digest gets forwarded to wsmr-simtel20.army.mil (because the
ajpo.sei.cmu.edu machine, being only a microvax II, can't handle the load).
(Arriving mail there is also immediately forwarded to berkeley.edu, which is
responsible for forwarding to the usenet side.) A couple times during the
day a process there looks to see how much stuff is in the queue. Based upon
certain size criteria, a digest is created and distributed. This is all
done automagically. One of the things that the digesting software does is
to edit the header of the digest to specify that replies are to be sent to
info-ada-REQUEST@ajpo.sei.cmu.edu, so that any mail system errors are NOT
forwarded back to the mailing list to annoy everybody (this has happened in
the past...). (Precautions are also taken to ensure that a message doesn't
go 'round and 'round between the two sides (usenet & mailing list) by
special tagging at the gateways.)
Unfortunately, some folks use a mail reader that generates the -REQUEST
address when they attempt to reply to a message. In those cases, I (since I
currently get all info-ada-request mail) simply return the message to them
and point them to the appropriate address for submission.
Since some folks see only the digested form, this can also account for their
confusion when they see a thread of discussion take place within a single
digest before they even had a chance to see the article that originated the
material.
My role is as the person who administers all this, chases down bad e-mail
addresses, updates the mailing list, etc. The AJPO (ALL CAPS) has supported
my participation in this effort for the past 8 years by providing me access
to their computer resources (over the years - ECLB, ISIF, ada20.isi.edu,
ajpo.sei.cmu.edu), and allowing me to work with the systems support staff at
these places to provide this facility.
A previous AJPO administration issued the following directive on use of
info-ada:
info-ada is sponsored by the AJPO to support the promotion and
introduction of Ada throughout the Department of Defense (DoD) and
the industries supporting DoD. Its primary emphasis is on
information exchange among the members subscribing to the mailing
list. In order to further facilitate that exchange of information,
a bidirectional link between info-ada and the USENET newsgroup
comp.lang.ada (formerly net.lang.ada) has been created.
The AJPO guidance on the use of info-ada is to strive to keep it for
fair usage. This means that no one should take advantage of it for
commercial marketing or promotion of any product, company, service,
institution, organization, etc. The desire is to avoid any bias
(express or implied) on the part of the government with regard to
endorsing or showing favoritism to any particular entity.
Authoritative, informative, non-commercial messages are considered
acceptable.
info-ada is normally automatically redistributed without any
moderation or censoring. This is the preferred mode of operation.
This mode of operation is dependent upon those making submissions to
follow the above guidance. The AJPO welcomes any further suggestions
and comments on the use and operation of info-ada. Please direct
such messages to the administrator of info-ada via
info-ada-request@ajpo.sei.cmu.edu.
I have attempted to ensure that the policy regarding non-commercialism is
reasonably enforced (I have not, and I will not, perform censorship on any
other basis). Unfortunately, since I do not specifically MODERATE the
material that is included in a digest, nor am I able to monitor each and
every article in a timely manner (that's life with volunteer labor!) I am
often unable to catch something before it gets included in a distribution.
A number of people have requested that this approach be taken. Within the
constraints of my current obligations, particularly with the Ada 9X language
revision, I am unable to provide the level of effort that this approach
would require. I have approached a number of individuals concerning their
participation in taking over such an effort and would be glad to talk with
anyone else who is interested (and has been patient enough to read this far
in my message!).
-- Karl --
Karl A. Nyberg karl@grebyn.com, nyberg@ajpo.sei.cmu.edu
Grebyn Corporation karl%grebyn.com@haven.umd.edu
Post Office Box 497 {decuac,haven}!grebyn!karl
Vienna, VA 22183-0497 USA +1-703-281-2194