(mailing lists)

<messaging> (Often shortened in context to "list") An electronic mail address that is an alias (or macro, though that word is never used in this connection) which is expanded by a mail exploder to yield many other e-mail addresses. Some mailing lists are simple "reflectors", redirecting mail sent to them to the list of recipients. Others are filtered by humans or programs of varying degrees of sophistication; lists filtered by humans are said to be "moderated". The term is sometimes used, by extension, for the people who receive e-mail sent to such an address. Mailing lists are one of the primary forms of hacker interaction, along with Usenet. They predate Usenet, having originated with the first UUCP and ARPANET connections. They are often used for private information-sharing on topics that would be too specialised for or inappropriate to public Usenet groups. Though some of these maintain almost purely technical content (such as the Internet Engineering Task Force mailing list), others (like the "sf-lovers" list maintained for many years by Saul Jaffe) are recreational, and many are purely social. Perhaps the most infamous of the social lists was the eccentric bandykin distribution; its latter-day progeny, lectroids and tanstaafl, still include a number of the oddest and most interesting people in hackerdom. Mailing lists are easy to create and (unlike Usenet) don't tie up a significant amount of machine resources (until they get very large, at which point they can become interesting torture tests for mail software). Thus, they are often created temporarily by working groups, the members of which can then collaborate on a project without ever needing to meet face-to-face. There are several programs to automate mailing list maintenance, e.g. Listserv, Listproc, Majordomo. Requests to subscribe to, or leave, a mailing list should ALWAYS be sent to the list's "-request" address (e.g. ietf-request@cnri.reston.va.us for the IETF mailing list). This prevents them being sent to all recipients of the list and ensures that they reach the maintainer of the list, who may not actually read the list. [Jargon File] (2001-04-27)

A mailing list is a collection of names and addresses used by an individual or an organization to send material to multiple recipients. The term is often extended to include the people subscribed to such a list, so the group of subscribers is referred to as "the mailing list", or simply "the list.

An electronic mailing list or email list is a special use of email that allows for widespread distribution of information to many Internet users. It is similar to a traditional mailing list – a list of names and addresses – as might be kept by an organization for sending publications to its members or customers, but typically refers to four things:

Full disclosure is a "lightly moderated" security mailing list generally used for discussion about information security and disclosure of vulnerabilities. The list was created on July 9, 2002 by Len Rose and was administered by Len Rose, who later handed it off to John Cartwright.

The Cinematography Mailing List is a website and collection of mailing lists founded by Geoff Boyle in November 1996. The CML is run on a volunteer basis by professional cinematographers "to promote the free exchange of ideas among fellow professionals, the cinematographer, their camera crew, manufacturers, rental houses and related businesses.

This is a list of notable electronic mailing list software, which facilitate the widespread distribution of email to many Internet users.

A cypherpunk is any individual advocating widespread use of strong cryptography and privacy-enhancing technologies as a route to social and political change. Originally communicating through the Cypherpunks electronic mailing list, informal groups aimed to achieve privacy and security through proactive use of cryptography.

A Robinson list or Mail Preference Service (MPS) list is an opt-out list of people who do not wish to receive marketing transmissions. The marketing can be via e-mail, postal mail, telephone, or fax.