Welcome to the DUST mailing list. There are over 100 subscribers now, and traffic is still pretty light. Please feel free to send an introductory message to the list to let us know who you are, where you live, what you ride, what questions (or answers) you have, etc.

If you have any problems with the list please send email to me at: dust-owner@dorje.com.

-Alan Fleming

(Potentially) Frequently-asked questions about the DUST mailing list
Last updated 27 December 1997
  1. What is the DUST mailing list?
  2. "DUST," eh? Is this some kind of stealth dirt-bike list?
  3. How do I subscribe to DUST?
  4. How do I get the "digest version"?
  5. How do I send a message to everybody?
  6. How come I never saw the distribution of the message I sent?
  7. How do I unsubscribe?
  8. Who can send mail to the DUST mailing list?
  9. What happens when I "reply" to something DUST sent me?
  10. What files are available from the server?
  11. Can I get these files via ftp?
  12. What does this error message mean?
  13. What else can LISTPROC do for me?
  14. What other resources are available on the Net for DUSTy riders?
  15. What if this FAQ didn't answer my question?
  1. What is the DUST mailing list?

    Back in 1996 it occurred to my friend Mike Mitten that although there are lots of mailing lists for different makes and models of bikes, and even more lists for different regions of the planet, there is no mailing list for people who like to do the *kind* of riding he enjoyed, which is long trips, off the Interstates and other limited-access highways, sticking to back roads, dirt roads, or whatever kind of road seems to go where he wanted to go, or thought he might want to go.

    The bmw-gs list, of which he was a member, addresses some of the audience for this, but there are people who do this kind of riding on bikes other than BMW's; his hope was that the Dust list would become a place where we can all discuss the type of riding we like to do, regardless of the particular bike upon which we do it.

    I'm resisting for now the temptation to list what I consider to be appropriate or inappropriate subject areas for this list because comprehensive lists are difficult to make and I don't want to lay down any rules or regulations. The only thing that I definitely don't want to see here are brand-bashing flame wars; I would expect that someone could post a message along the lines of "it's time to replace my bike with something that x, y, and z, any suggestions?" and get back some civil responses like "well, I like my Foo 850 Bar because Baz and Zop, but you have to be willing to put up with Nuf."

    Also, a quick note about Mike Mitten. When the DUST list was first started, Atlanta resident Mike Mitten was the list admin. Unfortunately, in July of 2000 he was diagnosed with American Burkitt's Lymphoma. Despite going into remission after chemo treatment, he contracted pneumonia and passed away on Oct 20, 2000. I (Alan Fleming) have taken over administering the list but this list is dedicated to Mike and his passion for motorcycling.

  2. "DUST," eh? Is this some kind of stealth dirt-bike list?

    Not a bit. DUST is an attempt at a clever[1] acronym[2] for "DUal Sport Touring," which is how I like to describe the kind of riding I like to do.

    [1] "There's a fine line between clever and stupid." -Spinal Tap

    [2] I get confused; there are two different words for groups of letters formed from the first letter of each of a group of words, depending upon whether or not the resulting group of letters is pronounceable. "Acronym" is one of those words, and I forget the other; of course, since I use the 'u' from "dual," "dust" may be neither in this case.

  3. How do I subscribe to DUST?

    It's all run by the listproc mailing list server software. Send mail to: listproc@dorje.com with a message body consisting of:

    subscribe dust Firstname Lastname

    Please replace "Firstname Lastname" with your NAME - what people call you. NOT your e-mail address - what computers call you. Your e-mail address is picked out of the headers of your mail. This means that you should send all administrative mail from the same place where you initially subscribed, and will get all list-mail at that same address.

  4. How do I get the "digest version"?

    The digest is a different "mailing mode" of your regular subscription. It gathers all the messages sent to the list on a given day into a single mail message. This is useful for reducing mail traffic but does tend to limit interaction in discussions. This mailing mode is controlled by you. Send mail to listproc@dorje.com consisting of:

    SET DUST MAIL DIGEST

    (You can combine these requests to the server into one mail-message when you subscribe. It'll first subscribe you, then set your mail-mode, then send you separate acknowledgement for each request. Its wise to put two dashes "I.E. --" before your .signature so that listproc doesn't try to interpret these lines as commands.)

  5. How do I send a message to everybody?

    Send anything you want to dust@dorje.com and your message will be distributed to all subscribers.

  6. How come I never saw the distribution of the message I sent?

    You certainly should have; by default, the server will send you copies of your submissions. You can change this default by sending mail to listproc@dorje.com with a message body consisting of:

    SET DUST MAIL NOACK

    If you don't know whether your subscription is set to ACK or NOACK, you can find out by sending mail to listproc@dorje.com with a message body consisting of:

    SET DUST

    You will get back a message showing the mode to which your subscription is set. If you are set to ACK and do not recieve a copy of your message, please contact me at dust-owner@dorje.com so I can look into the problem.

    Note that while the default mode is ACK, the DIGEST mode (question 4 above) implies NOACK.

  7. How do I unsubscribe?

    Send mail to listproc@dorje.com with a message body consisting of:

    UNSUBSCRIBE DUST

    (No name is required - it's keyed on your address from the e-mail header)

  8. Who can send mail to the DUST mailing list?

    The DUST list is set to "non-permissive" mode for incoming list-mail so that only subscribers can send messages. This was done to cut down on the amount of spam mail that is distributed via the mailing list. One of the side effects of this is that if the mail headers don't *exactly* match the mailing address under which someone is subscribed, their postings will be rejected. I hate to possibly deny valid subscribers from posting their messages and will attempt to resolve these problems as they come up. However, be aware that the list being in non-permissive mode might cause problems.

  9. What happens when I "reply" to something DUST sent me?

    Depends on your mailer. In general, using most mailers' "REPLY" command will send your response to the entire mailing list - NOT just to the originator of the message to which you're replying.

    Please be courteous and trim down the text from the original message so that your reply includes ONLY the minimum quotation necessary to establish context. Quoting an entire message (especially when responding to only a small portion) is irritating to those reading your message. Internet convention is to append new material AFTER the quotation to which it applies, often with multiple blocks of new stuff interspersed with the quoted stuff..

  10. What files are available from the server?

    No files are currently being maintained on the server. As interesting articles are sent to the list or useful files are made available then I'll work out the details of setting up a file server via the mailing list.

  11. Can I get any files via ftp?

    Yes! All the list archives are available via anonymous ftp from: ftp.dorje.com:/pub/mailing-lists/dust. If you have any problems, send me email at: dust-owner@dorje.com

  12. What does this error message mean?

    Any errors are probably because Alan or I haven't enabled all the features the listproc software supports so this listproc doesn't know how to handle your command. Please email me a copy of anything strange you receive so I can correct the problem. I'll attempt to add more features as the list grows.

  13. What else can LISTPROC do for me?

    Several other features are available. For a list of possible LISTPROC commands, send mail to listproc@dorje.com consisting of

    HELP

  14. What other resources are available on the Net for DUSTy riders?

    I will eventually get around to doing something more interesting with the DUST web page, http://www.dorje.com/mailing-lists/dust. Please feel free to email me directly with suggestions, links, or nifty HTML code of your own.

  15. What if this FAQ didn't answer my question?

    Send mail directly to me, Alan Fleming, at dust-owner@dorje.com.