I know there's already a bmw mailing list, but since it's an R bike 
only list (and limited to the R80* R100* bikes as well I believe)
I've decided to give this a go and see how much interest there is.
please read all of this post if you plan on subscribing to the list!

there is only one restriction for the discussion on this list, that it
be about BMW's. I don't care which BMW, any and all are welcome. I will
probably post articles that appear in the local BMW club newsletter, and
would incourage other club members to do the same, especially tech
articles.

to subscribe to the list, send a message to the list address:

                    bmw@rider.cactus.org

with the word SUBSCRIBE (in caps) in the *subject* of the message. having
the word SUBSCRIBE in the *subject* is the _only_ way to subscribe. if you 
put the keyword in the message body, your message will go out to everyone
on the list and you will be ridiculed beyond belief.

       ** your From: line must have a valid return address    **
       ** the list sw will use the address in your From: line **

if you would like to use a return address _other_ than what is contained
in your From: line, do not send mail to the list! send a note directly to
me (joe@rider.cactus.org) and I'll take care of it manually.

the list sw will hack up the outgoing message From: line so that your
original full name in ()'s is preserved, but the return address is
replaced with the mailing list address (bmw@rider.cactus.org). this 
allows you to simply reply to a message to keep it on the list (depending
on your mail interface natch. I use elm so that's what I wrote it for :-).
keep this in mind when you reply to a message and question the authors
parentage.

to remove your name from the list, send a message to the list address
with the word UNSUBSCRIBE (in caps) in the *subject* of the message.
having the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the *subject* is the _only_ way to remove
your name from the list. if you put the keyword in the message body, 
your message will go out to everyone on the list and you will be ridiculed 
beyond belief.

the list is run from my home system, a poor little 286 box running a
very old version of something that smells somewhat like unix. the MTA
isn't the smartest around, but I've managed to hack it up enough to make
a decent list MTA. additions and removals are handled automatically by
scripts that intercept messages based on the subject (see below) and
may occassionally goof. the sw will send a response message back when you
subscribe. if you do not receive a response within a reasonable amount
of time (my link is via UUCP and sometimes runs in spurts), send me a 
message (joe@rider.cactus.org) and I'll look into it.

if the list turns out to be too popular and the MTA groks over the number
of addresses, I'll have to freeze the list recipients until I can come up
with a better MTA.

good luck...
