computer science

LISTSERV

LISTSERV is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand LISTSERV rather than just read about it. In short: The term Listserv (styled by the registered trademark licensee, L-Soft International, Inc., as LISTSERV) has been used to refer to electronic mailing list software applications in general, but is more properly applied to a few early instances of such software, which allows a sender to send one email to a list, which then transparently sends it on to the addresses of the subscribers to the list. The original Listserv…

Key takeaways

LISTSERV belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect LISTSERV to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of LISTSERV from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The term Listserv (styled by the registered trademark licensee, L-Soft International, Inc., as LISTSERV) has been used to refer to electronic mailing list software applications in general, but is more properly applied to a few early instances of such software, which allows a sender to send one email to a list, which then transparently sends it on to the addresses of the subscribers to the list. The original Listserv software, the Bitnic Listserv (also known as BITNIC LISTSERV) (1984–1986), allowed mailing lists to be implemented on IBM VM mainframes and was developed by Ira Fuchs, Daniel Oberst, and Ricky Hernandez in 1984. This mailing list service was known as Listserv@Bitnic (also known as LISTSERV@BITNIC) and quickly became a key service on the BITNET network. It provided functionality similar to a UNIX Sendmail alias and, as with Sendmail, subscriptions were managed manually. In 1986, Éric Thomas developed an independent application, originally named "Revised Listserv" (also known as "Revised LISTSERV"), which was the first automated mailing list management application. Prior to Revised Listserv, email lists were managed manually. To join or leave a list, people would write to a list administrator and ask to be added or removed, a process that became more time-consuming as discussion lists grew in popularity. By 1987, the users of the Bitnic Listserv had migrated to Thomas' version. Listserv was freeware from 1986 through 1993 and is now a commercial product developed by L-Soft, a company founded by Thomas in 1994. A free version limited to ten lists of up to 500 subscribers each can be downloaded from the company's Web site. Several other list-management tools were subsequently developed, such as Lyris ListManager in 1997 (now Aurea Email Marketing), Sympa in 1997, GNU Mailman in 1998, and Gaggle in 2015.

Automated mailing list management In 1986, Éric Thomas redeveloped the original concept of an automated mailing list manager. Whilst a student at École Centrale Paris, he modified the software originally now known as LISTSERV. Some of the early software features allowed joining or leaving a list without the need for human administration. The list owner could also add or remove subscribers, and edit templates for both welcome and system messages. Amongst other innovations LISTSERV introduced double opt-in in 1993 and the first spam filter in 1995. After the release of Thomas' LISTSERV in 1986, LISTSERV@BITNIC was enhanced to provide automatic list management, but this enhancement was abandoned a few months later when Bitnic installed Thomas' LISTSERV. Other than their name, Bitnic's and Thomas' products are unrelated and neither product is based on the other product's code. Though electronic mailing lists (also known as "email lists") are not as popular as they once were, they survive due to their ease of use.

Trademark LISTSERV was registered as a trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 1995, based on its use since 1986. It was registered with the Swedish Patent and Registration Office, PRV, in 2001. As such, in those jurisdictions, using the word "listserv" to describe a different product or as a generic term for any email-based mailing list of that kind is a trademark misuse. The standard generic terms are electronic mailing list, e-list, or email list for the list itself, and email list manager or email list software for the software product that manages the list. Nevertheless, the generic use of the term has been common at times.

Security Individual user passwords were stored in plaintext until version 15.0. This made them available to users who are listed as "Site Managers" or "Postmasters" in the application configuration. Storing passwords in plaintext has the potential to allow anyone with access to the site, including attackers who might have compromised the site, to read the credentials. With the 2007 release of version 15.5, passwords are now stored hashed to defend against this attack.

Editions LISTSERV is available in several licensing options: LISTSERV Lite Free Edition for non-commercial hobby use; LISTSERV Lite for smaller workloads; LISTSERV, the standard, full-featured version; LISTSERV HPO (High Performance Option); and LISTSERV Maestro (for customized and targeted email publishing and reporting).

Supported operating systems A list of currently-supported operating systems can be found at LISTSERV Supported Operating Systems

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with LISTSERV

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what LISTSERV claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to LISTSERV before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about LISTSERV ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of LISTSERV

In research: LISTSERV appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses LISTSERV in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: LISTSERV is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1986 software, Email, Internet Protocol based network software, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for LISTSERV outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study LISTSERV in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what LISTSERV means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain LISTSERV out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is LISTSERV in simple terms?

Why does LISTSERV matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study LISTSERV?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on LISTSERV.