Participation in most mailing lists is free, although there are commercial mailing lists.

The approach of a mailing list is preferred by many users as more convenient than the alternatives of forums and newsgroups, which require that you access the Internet and browse for message threads on topics of interest.

Background     Perl Mailing Lists

Programming Mailing Lists Mailing List Services

Because there is no central approval authority for mailing lists, the exact number of such lists is unknown. However, it is estimated that over 100,000 mailing lists are active on the Internet today

Background
Mailing lists are a way of handling emails from multiple users on a common topic. Users simply sign up (subscribe) to receive the emails, then read or respond as they choose to the messages of interest. Most mailing lists are free, although some commercial mailing lists are available.

Mailing lists are typically managed by dedicated servers, where a server might manage hundreds of mailing lists. The server software handles the administrative issues, such as subscribing and unsubscribing.

Mailing lists typically have a human moderator who manages the content to avoid flaming (rude messages), spamming, or other inappropriate/off-topic message traffic. Administrative functions (subscribe, unsubscribe, delivery format, email address, etc.) have historically been handled via email, but the convenience of web page administration has grown in popularity. Most mailing lists offer both was of subscribing/unsubscribing and of handling user settings.

Participation
Once a topic is established on one of the many free or commercial mailing list servers, subscribers simply send their comments on the topic via email to the server. The server handles the distribution of the emails to all members of the mailing list.

Message traffic on a topic is then sent by the server directly to your email address. It can be sent to you one message at a time or in digest format (one email with an entire day's message traffic). You can read the message traffic, respond to messages, or create new message threads all from the privacy of your own email software.

Archives
Some mailing lists also offer access to archives of previous messages. These can sometimes be accessed online through a web page interface and can also be sent directly to the user, usually in digest format, by making a request through the list server.

Free Mailing Lists
If you want to create your own mailing list for free, then check out this site.

• FreeLists

Also, see my complete list of sites which provide free or commercial mailing services. You'll find that Google, MSN, and Yahoo also provide support for free mailing lists. They also provide online forums which track the same message traffic as are included in the mailing lists.

Mailing List Software
If you want to host a mailing list on your own server, then check out these most popular mailing list packages. They are free!

• LISTSERV
• ListProc
• Majordomo
• Lyris

List of Mailing Lists
If my list of Perl and programming mailing lists are not enough for you, then check out these sites which allow you to search for a mailing list.

• Tile.net

Message Traffic Volume
The amount of message traffic varies greatly between mailing lists. Some may have only a few messages a week while other may have hundreds of messages a day. One of the options available to subscribers is to receive all messages in a single email, once each day. This 'digest' option can greatly reduce the number of emails a user receives, and makes it easier to track message threads.

More Information
Additional information on mailing lists can be found at these URLs.

• WikiPedia
• Mailing List Servers