ARCHIVED: In Majordomo, what are the differences between open, closed, and auto subscription policies?

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UITS has retired the Majordomo list server at Indiana University Bloomington. If you were the primary owner of an IUB Majordomo list, you can no longer use it to send mail. If you'd like to create a new mailing list, anyone with an IU Network ID username and passphrase can request a LISTSERV list. For instructions, see ARCHIVED: At IU, how do I request a new LISTSERV list? Also, for a collection of documents with general LISTSERV information, and information about owning and subscribing to LISTSERV lists at IU, see the Knowledge Base menu ARCHIVED: LISTSERV, distribution lists, and mass mailing.

Majordomo mailing lists can be configured to have the subscription policy set to auto, open, or closed. Auto is the least restrictive, and closed the most.

Auto: If the list's configuration file reads subscription_policy=auto, anyone can subscribe or unsubscribe anyone else from the list.
Open: If the list's configuration file reads subscription_policy=open, individuals may subscribe and unsubscribe themselves to the list without the list administrator's approval, but requests to subscribe or unsubscribe others are sent to the list approver for approval.
Note: When you are subscribing or unsubscribing yourself, you should not include your email address on the command line. If you do, Majordomo will assume you are attempting to subscribe or unsubscribe someone other than yourself, and will send the request to the list owner for approval.
Closed: If the list's configuration file reads subscription_policy=closed, all subscription requests require list owner approval.

Note: You should never send commands to the address of the Majordomo mailing list (e.g., to listname@host.domain, where listname is the name of the list, and host.domain is the name of the computer where the list resides); only messages intended for members of the list should be sent to the list's address. Rather, send commands to the administrative address of your Majordomo list (e.g., to majordomo@host.domain). Additionally, send all commands in the body of the message; commands in the "Subject:" line of messages are ignored.