This month we're featuring an article on the integration of Lyris ListManager with Domino. To get a little perspective on list servers, we've asked John Buckman, CEO and founder of Lyris Technologies, to provide this fascinating look at the history of list servers.

The killer application on the Internet has always been email. It's the single most-used function online, far outstripping file transfers, Web browsing, and game playing. This is largely because of email's utility. Adding to its one-on-one correspondence function, email quickly expanded its functions to include distribution of messages for discussion groups and dispersal of periodical publications.

These add-ons have become indispensable parts of the online experience. Consequently, list server software that makes email discussion lists and email broadcasting possible has also become an integral component of electronic commerce.

The first list server
In 1981, BITNET (Because It's Time Network) was among the earliest networks that existed before the Internet. It was created in the United States to connect computer systems run by The City University of New York and Yale University.

Development of the U.S. BITNET network was funded by a grant from IBM. BITNET was run by CREN (Corporation for Research and Educational Networking) in the U.S., while EARN (European Academic and Research Network) ran BITNET in Europe. In 1982, CREN and EARN used a leased telephone circuit to connect their two networks.

EDUCOM in Europe created the first list server software used on the BITNET network. The initial goal of the list server was to enable scientists in Europe to quickly share research with colleagues in other parts of the world, thereby increasing the rate of scientific progress.

The first list server ran on an IBM VM mainframe, since BITNET used IBM's NJE (Network Job Entry) protocol for inter-machine communication. The VMS operating system also supported this protocol. Consequently, many Digital VAX (Virtual Address Extension) minicomputers (which also ran VMS) were connected via BITNET.

The administration of the first list server was quite primitive and lacked automation. For instance, each discussion group had a single email address set up as a simple email "exploder" that automatically sent each received message to all members of the list.

To subscribe or unsubscribe from the mailing list, members sent an email message to the address LISTSERV@BITNET-HOSTNAME. The listserv@ address wasn't a front end for a software program. Instead, it was an email address for a human who would read the message and manually add or remove people from the distribution list file.