| Original author(s) | Eric Thomas |
|---|---|
| Initial release | 1986 |
| Stable release | 16.0 / December 10, 2009 |
| Development status | Mature |
| Platform | Cross-platform |
| Type | Mailing lists |
| License | proprietary |
| Website | L-Soft |
LISTSERV was the first electronic mailing list software application, consisting of a set of email addresses for a group in which the sender can send one email and it will reach a variety of people.[1] Since its launch in 1986, several other list management tools have been developed, such as Lyris ListManager in 1997, Sympa in 1997, GNU Mailman in 1998.
Prior to LISTSERV, email lists were managed manually. To join or leave a list, people would write to the human list administrator and ask to be added or removed, a process that only got more time-consuming as discussion lists grew in popularity.
LISTSERV was freeware from 1986 through 1993 and is now a commercial product developed by L-Soft, a company founded by LISTSERV author Eric Thomas in 1994.[2] A free version limited to ten lists of up to 500 subscribers each can be downloaded from the company’s web site.
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In 1986, Eric Thomas invented the concept of an automated mailing list manager; that year, while a student in Paris, he developed the software now known as LISTSERV.[3] The early software features developed by Thomas included the capability to send commands to LISTSERV to join or leave a list without the need for human administration, as well as the concept of a list owner (other than the system administrator) who could add or remove subscribers, edit templates for welcome messages and other system messages. Among other innovations, LISTSERV introduced double opt-in in 1993 and the first spam filter in 1995.[4]
Though Listservs are not as popular as they once were, they continue to be used today due to their ease of use.[5]
LISTSERV is a registered trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office[6] and the Swedish Patent and Registration Office, PRV.[7] As such, 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, elist, or email list for the list itself, and email list manager or email list software for the software product that manages the list.[8]
The integrated F-Secure Anti-Virus system in LISTSERV software scans every message and attachment posted to a mailing list for viruses. LISTSERV is the first and so far the only email list software providing such built-in virus protection. If a virus is detected, the message is automatically rejected.[9]
Through version 15.0, individual user passwords were stored cleartext and available to users who are listed as Site Managers or "Postmasters" in the application configuration. Passwords are encrypted since version 15.5.
LISTSERV is available in several licensing options: LISTSERV Free Edition for non-commercial hobby use, LISTSERV Lite for smaller workloads, LISTSERV Classic the standard, full-featured version, LISTSERV HPO (High Performance Option) and LISTSERV Maestro (for customized and targeted email publishing and reporting).
LISTSERV is currently available for and supported on Linux, Solaris, FreeBSD, AIX, Mac OS X, OpenVMS, HP-UX, Tru64, z/VM, and Microsoft Windows (XP, 2000, 2003, Vista, 2008, and 7).
A program that allowed mailing lists to be implemented on IBM VM mainframes was developed by Ira Fuchs, Daniel Oberst, and Ricky Hernandez in 1984. This mailing list service was known as LISTSERV@BITNIC and quickly became a key service on the BITNET network. It provided functionality similar to a Sendmail alias and was managed manually (sendmail was not available on IBM mainframes at the time). After the release of Thomas' LISTSERV in 1986, LISTSERV@BITNIC was enhanced to provide automatic list management, but was abandoned a few months later when BITNIC installed Thomas' LISTSERV.[10]
Contemporaneously, North Carolina State University had been given a copy of the BITNIC code to run on their mainframe (LISTSERV@NCSUVM). This was actually a modified version of the code with improvements from Alan B. Clegg. NCSU switched to Thomas' LISTSERV in 1986. Other than their name, BITNIC's and Thomas' products are unrelated. Neither product is based on the other product's code.[11]