listserv

LISTSERV

Mailing list management software from L-Soft international, Inc., Landover, MD (www.lsoft.com) that runs on Windows, Mac, OpenVMS, VM (mainframe) and various Unix machines. LISTSERV scans e-mail messages for the words "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" to automatically update the list. Virus protection is also provided. The LISTSERV program originated in France in 1986 by engineering student Eric Thomas, who went on to found the L-Soft company in 1994. See mailing list.

---

listserv [′list‚sərv]

(computer science)

The software (server) used to maintain an electronic mailing list. Also known as list server.

---

(messaging)

Listserv - An automatic mailing list server, initially written to run under IBM's VM operating system by Eric Thomas. Listserv is a user name on some computers on BITNET/EARN which processes electronic mail requests for addition to or deletion from mailing lists. Examples are listserv@ucsd.edu, listserver@nysernet.org. Some listservs provide other facilities such as retrieving files from archives and database search. Full details of available services can usually be obtained by sending a message with the word HELP in the subject and body to the listserv address. Eric Thomas, has recently formed an international corporation, L-Soft, and has ported Listserv to a number of other platforms including Unix. Listserv has simultaneously been enhanced to use both the Internet and BITNET. Two other major mailing list processors, both of which run under Unix, are Majordomo, a freeware system, and Listproc, currently owned and developed by BITNET.