The welcome-file of the TANGO-L mailing list


                      Welcome to TANGO-L@MITVMA.MIT.EDU!
Last revised 4 April 1996

CONTENTS
========
0. How to unsubscribe from this list (and how NOT to)
1. Introduction -- Why you should read and save this message
2. Use of the Digest option to reduce your mail volume
3. How to change your subscription or subscription options
4. Sending messages to the everyone on the list
5. Who can join?  Why might you be removed from the list?
6. Submission Guidelines and Policies (READ THIS before posting anything!)
7. List of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) -- How to get it
8. The Dancers' Archives (USEFUL place!) -- This list is archived there too
9. Tango on the Web/Other Related Electronic Fora
10. Information on other LISTSERV commands
11. Whom to contact for other questions related to operation of the list

0. How to unsubscribe from this list (and how NOT to)
=====================================================
To unsubscribe from this list, send the command
                              unsubscribe TANGO-L
to  LISTSERV@MITVMA.MIT.EDU.  If you  need  help  unsubscribing an  old  e-mail
address that you no longer  use, send e-mail to TANGO-L-Request@MITVMA.MIT.EDU,
indicating  the complete  address  that  you want  removed  (or,  if you  don't
remember  it exactly,  any  information that  will help  identify  it, such  as
portions of the old  address). Do NOT send e-mail to the  entire list asking to
be removed  from the  list, as  you may  get 300  copies of  these instructions
telling you the right way of doing it!

1. Introduction -- Why you should read and save this message
============================================================
TANGO-L is a public electronic mailing list for Discussion of Any Aspect of the
Argentine Tango.  It is  sponsored by  the MIT  Ballroom Dance  Club, but  is a
general  discussion  list  for  everyone   in  the  worldwide  Argentine  Tango
community.

Please read this message completely and then SAVE IT FOR FUTURE REFERENCE, even
if you are familiar with LISTSERV and/or the TANGO-L list. This might look like
a waste  of disk space  now, but in  6 months you will  be glad you  saved this
information when  you realize that you  cannot remember what are  the lists you
are subscribed to, or what is the command to leave the list to avoid filling up
your mailbox while you are on vacations.  In fact, you should create a new mail
folder for subscription confirmation messages like this one, and for additional
"welcome messages" from the list owners  that you are will occasionally receive
after subscribing to a new list.

2. Use of the Digest option to reduce your mail volume
======================================================
This  list  is  available  in  a digested  or  undigested  format;  unless  you
specifically requested a digest, you are subscribed to the undigested list. The
digest option  to a list  concatenates all the messages  over a period  of time
(daily for  the TANGO-L list) into  one message and sends  out the consolidated
message, with an index  at the top. This reduces the  number of e-mail messages
you get and  lets you scan the  subjects quickly; however, it is  a little more
difficult to respond to individual messages.

3. How to change your subscription or subscription options
==========================================================
In case you  prefer an option other  than the one you currently  signed up for,
here are the instructions for subscribing or changing your subscription options
to TANGO-L.

You  should e-mail  the command(s)  shown below  in the  BODY of  a message  to
LISTSERV@MITVMA.MIT.EDU;  multiple  commands  may  appear in  the  same  e-mail
message, and are processed sequentially. The exception to this is the subscribe
command, which generates  a confirmation message to you that  you must reply to
before you are subscribed; until you  are finally subscribed, you cannot change
any options  (like digest),  so you  cannot "subscribe" and  "set" in  the same
e-mail message.

a. To subscribe to TANGO-L (UN-digested):
        subscribe TANGO-L Yourfirstname Yourlastname

b. To change to the (daily) digest option to TANGO-L, after your
   subscription has been confirmed:
        set TANGO-L digest

c. To change from digest to regular mail, use:
        set TANGO-L mail

d. You can also turn mail off temporarily with:
        set TANGO-L nomail
   This may be useful to do if you are going to be away
   for some time and don't want your mail to pile up.

e. To turn mail back on (that was turned off with the
   "set TANGO-L nomail" command), use the command:
        set TANGO-L mail          (for undigested), or
        set TANGO-L digest        (for digested)

f. To unsubscribe completely from a list, use:
        signoff TANGO-L      or
        unsubscribe TANGO-L

Note that the  digest/mail/nomail settings are all mutually  exclusive, so that
exactly one will always be active  (default when you subscribe is "mail"). This
means that you  cannot, for instance, receive both the  digested and undigested
versions  of the  SAME list,  unless you  subscribe twice  under two  different
e-mail addresses.

4. Sending messages to the everyone on the list
===============================================
To send a message to all the people currently subscribed to the list, just send
mail  to TANGO-L@MITVMA.MIT.EDU.  This is  called "sending  mail to  the list,"
because you send mail to a single address and LISTSERV makes copies for all the
people  who  have subscribed.  This  address  (TANGO-L@MITVMA.MIT.EDU) is  also
called the "list address."  It generally takes between a few  minutes and a few
hours for everyone on the list to receive the message, but some addresses incur
delays of a few days, at times.

You  must never  try  to send  any  command to  that address,  as  it would  be
distributed to all the people who have subscribed. All commands must be sent to
the "LISTSERV address", LISTSERV@MITVMA.BITNET (or LISTSERV@MITVMA.MIT.EDU). It
is very  important to understand the  difference between the two,  as people on
the list  get annoyed  if you send  commands meant for  LISTSERV to  the entire
membership of the list!

This list  is restricted  to receiving  messages only  from subscribers  to the
list, to avoid unwanted "spams." If your submission is rejected, it is probably
because you are  sending the e-mail from  a different account than  the one you
subscribed under.  The best  method is to  use the same  login and  machine for
sending  mail that  you used  when you  originally subscribed.  If this  is not
practical for  you, another  option is  to subscribe  all of  the two  or three
machines that you use, and set all but  one to "nomail"; this will let you send
mail from any of the machines without receiving multiple copies.

5. Who can join?  Why might you be removed from the list?
=========================================================
Anyone can  join the list by  sending e-mail to LISTSERV@MITVMA.MIT.EDU  with a
SUBSCRIBE command.

(You  may  subscribe a  local  redistribution  list or  a  gateway  to a  local
newsgroup,  as long  as whatever  you do  is local  to your  site. Please  send
e-mail,  describing  what you  plan  to  do, to  TANGO-L-Request@MITVMA.MIT.EDU
before you do this, so that we may verify that there will be no problems.)

Addresses  that generate  bounced e-mail  (i.e., if  your e-mail  address stops
working) will be dropped within 2 days or less; you'll have to resubscribe when
the problem is fixed, by sending the command
                       subscribe TANGO-L Your Full Name
to LISTSERV@MITVMA.MIT.EDU.  After your  subscription has been  confirmed, send
the command
                              set TANGO-L digest
to LISTSERV@MITVMA.MIT.EDU. (The  digest option is strongly  recommended if you
are resubscribing after problems with your address, since it reduces the number
of further bounces that the list administrator  has to deal with if the problem
has not  cleared, and avoids  your being  removed again prematurely.  After you
have verified that  the address is behaving normally again,  you can remove the
digest option if you'd like.)

Although  a message  is sent  to  you indicating  this, you  will probably  not
receive it (since e-mail  to you was bouncing to start with),  and the only way
you will know is that you will stop receiving e-mail from the list.

This is the  only reason that anyone  has ever been dropped from  the list and,
since this is a  friendly forum, it is hoped that this will  always be the only
reason. However, to protect the list and  its members, it is necessary to state
that you may  be removed from the  list, and/or kept from posting  to it, under
circumstances  including,  but  not  limited  to,  the  following:  Extreme  or
continued violation of  the list guidelines and policies, or  of Internet usage
conventions (as determined  solely by the list administrator or  list owner, or
person(s) designated by the list administrator or list owner); violation of the
acceptable use policies  of the sponsoring institution (MIT);  violation of any
applicable law,  including copyright law;  any other  action that, in  the sole
opinion of the list administrator or list owner, or person(s) designated by the
list administrator or list  owner, may be harmful to the  list, its members, or
the computer facilities or networks that support it.

6. Submission Guidelines and Policies (READ THIS before posting anything!)
==========================================================================
You will receive a separate file containing  the rules that members of the list
are expected to  adhere to. If you  have questions about a  particular rule, or
wish to verify that  a posting is within the guidelines,  please send e-mail to
the  list administrator  at TANGO-L-Request@MITVMA.MIT.EDU.  Please do  not ask
this on the list,  as it will invariably lead to  tangential discussions on the
list rules, which divert from the primary subject of the list.

7. List of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) -- How to get it
============================================================
There is no  FAQ specifically for the Argentine Tango,  though one is currently
under development by Shawn Koppenhoefer . If you
are  interesting  in  participating  in this  activity,  please  contact  Shawn
directly   (you   may   sent   the   list  administrator   a   copy   of   your
interest-indicating mail too).

There is an existing FAQ for the Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.dance, some of which
is likely to be  of interest to members of the TANGO-L  list. Although there is
only a  little bit of information  about the Argentine Tango  specifically, you
are strongly encouraged to get and read this FAQ, since it contains a wealth of
other    dance-related   information.    It    is   available    by   FTP    at
ftp://ftp.std.com/nonprofits/dance/rec-arts-dance/rad-FAQ-1of3.txt,
.../rad-FAQ-2of3.txt  and  .../rad-FAQ-3of3.txt, or  on  the  WorldWide Web  at
http://www.math.ucla.edu/~eijkhout/rad/faq.html.  If you  don't  know what  all
this  means,   the  easiest  way   to  get  it  now   is  to  send   e-mail  to
 with the following line in the SUBJECT field of
your e-mail message
                                  get rad-faq
(yes, for this service  it DOES matter what's upper case  and what's lower case
and, unlike  commands to LISTSERVMITVMA.MIT.EDU  which appear in the  body, the
command for this file  server appears in the subject line  of the header). This
will get you three separate files by  return e-mail for the 3-part FAQ. The FAQ
is maintained by Victor Eijkhout .

8. The Dancers' Archives (USEFUL place!) -- This list is archived there too
===========================================================================
This  list  is archived  at  the  "Dancer's Archive,"  which  is  an FTP  site,
accessible  by  anonymous  ftp  to  ftp.std.com,  in  files  in  the  directory
/ftp/nonprofits/dance/tango/.  These  archive  files  have names  of  the  form
d[yy][mm]w[ww].digest, where [yy] is the year, [mm] the month and [ww] the week
of the  _year_. So the  February 1996 digests, for  example, would be  in files
d9602w05.digest through d9602w09.digest.

There is a wealth  of information here for dancers of  many disciplines, and is
probably the  most complete compilation  of information for dancers;  do browse
around in  this directory  if you  have FTP access.  The Dancers'  Archives are
maintained  by Eileen  Bauer ;  she welcomes  and ENCOURAGES
contributions  to  the  information  stored  there. If  you  looked  there  for
something and  didn't find it,  and go  elsewhere to compile  your information,
please do  consider submitting your results  for inclusion in the  Archives, so
that others may benefit from your efforts too!

If  you  don't  have  FTP  access,  the  Dancers'  Archives  also  provides  an
e-mail-based file-server.  Get the FAQ  (for which you  can use this  very file
server as described above), which will give you more information.

9. Tango on the Web/Other Related Electronic Fora
=================================================
* The Tango Server: The premier World-Wide-Web site for the Argentine Tango was
the Tango  Server in  Lausanne, Switzerland,  maintained by  Shawn Koppenhoefer
. Unfortunately,  it was  taken off-line  in January  1996. A
good     starting      point     is     Frankfurt's     Tango      Page,     at
www.cyber-tango.com,   which
has links to  other sites. Also, look  for Tango links in  Henry's Hotlist (see
below), or search for "Argentine Tango" with your favourite Web search tool.

*  The Ballroom  Mailing List:  This  is a  discussion  list for  all forms  of
ballroom and swing  dancing. You can subscribe to the  Ballroom list by sending
e-mail to LISTSERV@MITVMA.MIT.EDU with the message
                       subscribe BALLROOM Your Full Name
in the body of the message.

* Henry's Hotlist, maintained  by Henry Neeman  contains
a comprehensive list of Web-accessible dance-related sites, including those for
Argentine Tango. Its URL is
http://zeus.ncsa.uiuc.edu:8080/~hneeman/dance_hotlist.html

10. Information on other LISTSERV commands
==========================================
A  previous section  of this  message already  told you  how to  subscribe, and
chance your digest  options for the TANGO-L  list. Here are a  few other useful
commands.

You may leave the list completely at any time by sending a "SIGNOFF TANGO-L" or
"UNSUBSCRIBE  TANGO-L"  command  to  LISTSERV@MITVMA.MIT.EDU. If  you  want  to
suspend mail  temporarily (e.g.,  while you  are on vacation),  you can  send a
command "SET TANGO-L NOMAIL" to  LISTSERV@MITVMA.MIT.EDU, and restart mail when
you return with the command "SET TANGO-L  MAIL" (or "SET TANGO-L DIGEST" if you
had a digested subscription).

This list  has been set up  so that LISTSERV will  send you a copy  of your own
messages, so that you can see that  the message was distributed and did not get
damaged on  the way. If you  would rather not  get copies of your  own message,
send a "SET TANGO-L NOREPRO" command to LISTSERV@MITVMA.MIT.EDU.

For more information about subscription options, send a "QUERY TANGO-L" command
to LISTSERV@MITVMA.MIT.EDU.

More information  on LISTSERV commands can  be found in the  LISTSERV reference
card,  which  you  can  retrieve  by  sending  an  "INFO  REFCARD"  command  to
LISTSERV@MITVMA.MIT.EDU.

11. Whom to contact for other questions related to operation of the list
========================================================================
If you have further questions, comments  or concerns with the management of the
TANGO-L list,  you should  send e-mail  to the  administrative contact  for the
list,  TANGO-L-Request@MITVMA.MIT.EDU.  Remember   that  normal  operations  of
subscribing,  unsubscribing,  changing  subscription  options,  etc.,  are  all
handled  automatically via  e-mail commands  (in the  BODY of  the message)  to
LISTSERV@MITVMA.MIT.EDU.