BMW-GS List FAQ

A1) BMW-GS is a topical mailing list for discussion of all facets of ownership and riding of BMW GS series dual-purpose motorcycles. Topics dealing with the GS's close relatives (e.g. R80ST, R100/850/1100R, F650?) may also be appropriate provided they have some relevance either to GS's or to off-pavement touring/riding on an absurdly heavy motorcycle.

Q2) What if I feel its charter is narrower than my interests?

A2) Congratulations, you must have a personality! Or at least own other bikes besides your GS. But the list owners don't care about anything besides the topics described in A1, not appearing in their bmw-gs mail folder anyway. We don't expect bmw-gs's charter to completely satisfy everyone's cyber/moto thirst. But fortunately there are many other lists available with somewhat different charters, and it's easy to subscribe to as many or as few as you'd like. See Other Motorcycle Lists

Q3) Who can join the BMW-GS mailing list?

A3) Anyone interested in the discussions outlined in section A1 and who agrees not to abuse the list for purposes beyond this charter.

Q4) What's considered "abuse" on this list?

Propagating threads that move beyond the bounds of this charter as outlined in section A1. In consideration of other bmw-gs subscribers, such discussions should be taken to private e-mail or to a more appropriate forum such as the lists described in A2. For example, a debate about helmet laws would be inappropriate on bmw-gs, although reviews of dual-sport helmets are welcome. In general, the less GS-specific a topic is, the less bandwidth it deserves on the bmw-gs mailing list.

Posting responses to the list that are only of interest to a single individual. Messages that say "Okay, Joe, I'll buy your old alternator rotor" should be handled in private email.

Posting complaints to the list about abuse of the list. However well intentioned, this is usually as harmful as the original noise. Such concerns should be addressed directly to the originator or list owners only.

Posting "test" messages and other "meta" messages, such as "Did anybody see the message I sent last week?" and "Why haven't I gotten any messages yet today?" Such messages are more appropriately addressed to the listowners, or handled by the automated list-processor. Please see "Q16" below.

Posting "virus warnings" or email chain letters of any kind. See http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/CIACHoaxes.html and http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/CIACChainLetters.html

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Q5) What if someone abuses the list?

A5) The list owners understand that most inappropriate postings are unintentional. We have therefore changed the default Reply-To field to the originator, and the default mode to ACK. The list owners are also NOT interested in running a moderated list. And we even understand that some amount of off-topic chatter is inevitable.

But at the same time, we are also dedicated to ensuring that bmw-gs remains a topical, high-content, low-noise list for the benefit of those subscribers who don't have time to sort through the sheer volume inherent in a random chat list. Should polite reminders (by the listowners or other subscribers) prove ineffective in reducing abuse of this list, the listowners reserve the right to refuse service if necessary to enforce this charter.

Please direct any questions, objections, concerns, or suggestions regarding the administration of this list directly to the list owners via bmw-gs-owner@micapeak.com.

Q6) What else can I do to keep the signal-to-noise ratio high?

If a thread's topic has evolved outside of the original posting, change the subject line of your response to reflect it. (If it's evolved outside of the bmw-gs charter, drop it or take it off-line.)
Use minimal quotes. Trim down the text from the original message so that your reply includes ONLY the minimum quotation necessary to establish context. Include an attribution for the quoted material, but please don't repeat 20 lines of headers. (Note that if you attempt to re-post the "Message-ID:" header of the original message, listproc may mistake your reply as a "bounce" and automatically reject it!) You can also make your response easier for others to read by following the Internet/NetNews convention of appending new material AFTER the minimum quoted portion of the message to which the new stuff refers.
Avoid "crossposting" between mailing lists. If you feel you must send the same message to both bmw-gs and another mailing list, please send them _separately_. The reason is that if you include both bmw-gs and other mailing list addresses on the To:/CC: fields of the same message, a frequent result is that non-GS threads wind up getting copied from the other lists to bmw-gs.
Sign each message. Include at the end of each message a "signature" that reasonably identifies you by name and e-mail address, and, preferably, indicates your geographic location. It is also often helpful to include the year and model of your GS. It is not particularly helpful for your signature to include a 25-line ASCII drawing of your pet cat, even if he does wear goggles and ride in your Multivario.
Avoid posting binary attachments. This includes things like .JPEG graphics files, the infamous WINMAIL.DAT, ms-tnef, and other "rich text format" attachments. Users of Microsoft's email products please take note!
Avoid sending your message in HTML or "quoted-printable" formats. Using plain 7-bit ASCII text ensures your message will be readable by all subscribers.
Keep the number of geographically-narrow messages to a minimum. Remember that bmw-gs has subscribers all over the Universe.

Maintain respect, patience, and a sense of humor.
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Q7) How do I subscribe to BMW-GS?

A7) It's all run by server software. Send mail to LISTPROC@micapeak.com with a message body consisting of:

SUBSCRIBE BMW-GS Joe Motohead

Please replace "Joe Motohead" with your NAME -- what people call you* -- NOT your e-mail address -- what computers call you. Your e-mail address is determined automatically from the headers of your mail. This means that you should send all administrative mail from the same e-mail account where you initially subscribed. All list-mail will be sent to that one address.

* You would not believe how many BMW-GS subscribers actually have the name "Joe Motohead". ;-)

Q8) How do I send a message to everybody?

A8) Send your message to BMW-GS@micapeak.com and it will be distributed to all subscribers.

Q9) How do I unsubscribe?

A9) Send a message to LISTPROC@micapeak.com with a message body consisting of:

UNSUBSCRIBE BMW-GS

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

Q10) How do I change my subscription address?

A10) Though listproc refers to a "SET ADDRESS" command, it is usually easier to simply SUBSCRIBE from your new account, and UNSUBSCRIBE from your old account. If you no longer can send email from your old address, just send a note to the list administrators via bmw-gs-owner, and we will manually remove your old address.

Q11) What about DIGEST and other "mailing modes"?

A11) Your subscription is always set to EXACTLY ONE of these modes, which control how and when you get mail from the list:

ACK - Undigestified list mail (THIS IS THE DEFAULT). You get a separate e-mail message for each posting made by a subscriber, including those messages sent by you.

NOACK - Undigestified list mail. You get a separate e-mail message for each posting made by a subscriber, NOT including those messages sent by you.

DIGEST - Digestified list mail. Instead of receiving one e-mail message for every message sent to BMW-GS, you get one big "digest" e-mail message per day. Each big digest message contains a copy of all the messages submitted to the list (including your own) since the last digest.

POSTPONE - Your record stays on file, but you get NO mail from the list. NOTE: it also doesn't "save up" the mail while you're gone; you are simply ignored until you re-set your mode.

You can set yourself to any one of these modes by sending mail to LISTPROC@micapeak.com consisting of the message:

SET BMW-GS MAIL <mode

Example: to get back to "normal" mode after setting your mode to postpone or digest: SET BMW-GS MAIL ACK

Q12) What happens when I "reply" to something BMW-GS sent me?

A12) Depends on your mailer, and the list "mailing mode" you've selected.

If you're configured as ACK or NOACK, the "REPLY" function in most mail programs will send your response ONLY to the originator of the message to which you're replying, not to the entire list. BE CAREFUL and be aware of the addressee generated by your mailer. If you intend to reply to the whole mailing list, you may have to fill in the list address by hand: BMW-GS@micapeak.com For some mailers, selecting "REPLY ALL" is sufficient to post your response publicly.

If you're configured as DIGEST, the "REPLY" function in most mail programs will send your response to the entire list. BE CAREFUL and be aware of the addressee generated by your mailer. If you intend to reply only to the originator of the message to which you're replying, you will have to fill in the individual's address by hand.

Q13) How can I find out who else is subscribed to BMW-GS?

A13) You can get a boring and ill-formatted list by sending a message to LISTPROC@micapeak.com with a message body consisting of: REVIEW BMW-GS

Q14) How can I keep this !@#$% spam out of my mailbox?

A14) The bmw-gs mailing list is currently run in "permissive" mode. This means that listproc does not have to recognize your address when posting; _anyone_ (except those caught by our .ignored filter) may post a message to this list. When a spam hits the bmw-gs list (which is very infrequent, relatively speaking) I analyze the headers in the list's incoming mail log and enhance the .ignored filter. Depending on the host where the spam originates, we are sometimes successful in getting the spammer's account shut down.

It is possible to run the list in NON-permissive mode. Unfortunately this creates an admin task of dealing with wrongly rejected messages, and a hassle for those subscribers who for various reasons do not have a precisely consistent return address. Also, running in NON- permissive mode does not necessarily prevent undesirables from posting, as _anyone_ can subscribe! And we're not about to try investigating and approving each SUBSCRIBE command.

Therefore, for as long as my hassle dealing with the spammers is less than my estimated hassle for dealing with a non-permissive list, bmw-gs will continue to operate in permissive mode. What does this mean for you?

- You can always post to bmw-gs from any account, home or office. - You should simply DELETE and IGNORE the occasional spam which appears on bmw-gs. Do NOT post a reply to the list, do NOT attempt to send a reply to the spammer (the redistributed email does not give you all the headers required to distinguish between the actual source and a forged "From:" address), do NOT even tell me about it (I see all the bmw-gs traffic too, after all).

One more thing, some subscribers have speculated that spammers are gathering addresses from the BMW-GS REVIEW command. As someone who monitors the logs and analyzes and compares various spams, I do NOT believe this to be the case (or at the very least, insignificant compared to the other address sources spammers use).

Nevertheless, while I do NOT recommend the following (as it makes my admin job a little more difficult), you should know that it is possible to be an "unlisted" BMW-GS subscriber. All you have to do is mailto:LISTPROC@micapeak.com with a message body of
SET BMW-GS CONCEAL YES

Q15) How can someone get a copy of the current BMW-GS subscription FAQ?

A15) Send mail to LISTPROC@micapeak.com consisting of the message:
INFO BMW-GS

Q16) Why haven't I received any mail from BMW-GS recently?
A16) Possibilities include: - the bmw-gs listproc host or its link to your computer may be temporarily out of service, - your subscription might have gotten unsubscribed or postponed due to excessive bounces to your account.
You can find out the status of your subscription by sending mail to LISTPROC@micapeak.com consisting of the message:
SET BMW-GS

Q17) How can I retrieve missed digests or other archived bmw-gs files?

A17) You can obtain a listing of all available files in the bmw-gs archives by sending mail to LISTPROC@micapeak.com consisting of the message:

INDEX BMW-GS

Individual files (such as BMW-GS Digest 1020) may be retrieved by sending mail to LISTPROC@micapeak.com consisting of the message:

GET BMW-GS bmw-gs-digest.1020

Please replace "bmw-gs-digest.1020" with the name of the archived file you wish LISTPROC to email you. Note that you may request multiple files with a single LISTPROC email by including multiple lines of GET commands in your message.

Q18) What if I don't know which digest has the information I need?

A18) If you don't know which digest numbers might interest you, try searching for your topic. For instance to find out what people have been saying about the F650, send mail to LISTPROC@micapeak.com consisting of the message:

SEARCH BMW-GS F650 or SEARCH BMW-GS "f650"

The search mechanism is line-oriented, so it generally works best if the search string is a single word. Note that the search is case-insensitive, and will only pay attention to surrounding blanks if you ask it to. Thus searching for "swing" (with or without the quotation marks) will trigger on ``Swing'', ``swinging'', and ``SWINGARM''. But searching for "swing " (quote marks required in this case) will trigger on ``Swing arm'' but _not_ ``swingarm'' or even ``swing, '' To learn more details about searching, logon to a Unix workstation and type "man grep".

Q19) Does the BMW-GS list have a web site?

A19) Sort of... You can find an HTML'ed (and possibly out-of-date) version of this subscription FAQ at... http://www.micapeak.com/bmw-gs/ But probably what you're really looking for is Jean Moxhet's http://www.micapeak.com/bmw/gs/ This is an excellent reference to the entire BMW GS series!

Q20) Where is the BMW-GS list hosted?

A20) Circa 1992, Bob Pasker began the bmw-gs list on his personal microVAX called halfdome.sf.ca.us Since then it's migrated to dear old "mom", and now micapeak.com. As of this writing the bmw-gs list has grown to over 700 subscribers (double from just two years ago).

There are a _lot_ of resources for motorcycle enthusiasts at micapeak.com. The bmw-gs list is especially fortunate in that the digests are archived and available for searching and retrieval. Please keep this in mind when the next annual fund raising appeal comes around.

Q21) What "fund raising"?

A21) While Carl Paukstis (listmaster@micapeak.com) does the list administration, the facilities and service for BMW-GS and several other motorcycle-mailing lists are provided generously by micapeak.com. H. Marc Lewis (marcl@micapeak.com) owns and operates the micapeak.com domain and pays all the associated costs: buying the hardware and software, maintaining it, and paying all the necessary fees to keep it connected to the Internet. He does this as a hobby -- micapeak.com is definitely a non-profit deal. Once a year (Jan/Feb) he solicits donations to help with the ongoing costs. If you'd like to contribute, his address is: H. M. Lewis, PO Box 14755, Spokane, WA 99214, USA.

The BMW-GS list and archives we have today are due in part to the contributors listed in http://www.micapeak.com/pages/friends.html

Q22) What if this FAQ didn't answer my question?

A22) Send mail directly to one or both of the listowners: David "-DaVE" Doudna ddoudna@best.com or dd@episupport.com or Bob 'bob' Pasker rbp@well.com or preferably both of us via... bmw-gs-owner@micapeak.com

If you can't derive a combination of existing lists to cover all of your interests without overflowing your mailbox, contact us at bmw-gs-owner@micapeak.com for information on how you can create and administer a new list with a unique charter.