Date: Mon, 6 Feb 1995 11:28:39 +0900
From: Stephen Turnbull <turnbull AT shako DOT sk DOT tsukuba DOT ac DOT jp>
To: djgpp AT sun DOT soe DOT clarkson DOT edu
Subject: duplicates?  for the FAQ

Dear Roger Labbe:

Aaron promised you Eli's address in a header, there it is :-)

Eli:

Would you consider adding this to the FAQ, section "DJGPP mailing
list"?  It needs a bit of editing, both for inappropriate content

Q:  Why am I getting 2 and often more copies of the same message?

A:  First, check the headers to make sure it isn't addressed to you
twice:  this often happens when people reply to your post.  You
get the direct message, and a Cc: via djgpp.

Of course it is possible that you have added yourself to the list
several times.  (One way for this to happen would be if your site
supports a mail exploder which remails DJGPP to you, and you have
subscribed yourself.)  The only way to check personally would be to
unsubscribe and see if you keep getting mail.  You could also ask
djgpp-request AT sun DOT soe DOT clarkson DOT edu.  The maintainer will do what is
possible, but if it's only one person complaining, it may take a
couple of days.  It may be a wild-goose chase anyway, since he can't
necessarily identify all the aliases for your address as the same
address (eg, djgpp AT sun DOT soe DOT clarkson DOT edu looks nothing like
eliz AT is DOT elta DOT co DOT il, but the maintainer of this FAQ will receive mail
sent to either address).

Especially if list members complain, what probably has happened is
that someone has set up a mail exploder improperly, and placed
djgpp AT sun DOT soe DOT clarkson DOT edu in the mailing list.  This will set up an
infinite loop of messages being sent back and forth between the
listserv at djgpp and the "local" expansion list.  You will get them
all....  One should never permit off-site addresses to be added to a
mailing list unless it is the originating site for a global list
server.

This problem can be identified by the fact that in the full headers
"Received: by sun.soe.clarkson.edu" will appear more than once.  One
or more of the machines appearing between those "Received:" headers is
likely to be the culprit, although sometimes one of those machines
functions as the mail exchanger for a machine which does *not* appear
in the headers.  (In which case the mail exchanger is guilty as an
accomplice before the fact; it has permitted the actual offender to
use its name for the nefarious deed.)  Sending lots of polite messages
(one per DJGPP'er) to the POSTMASTER address at each of the machines
in question will probably get the attention of the right person.  The
other postmasters (if any) will undoubtedly inflict appropriate
punishment.  (Note: messages originating from the address
"turnbull AT shako DOT sk DOT tsukuba DOT ac DOT jp" or from "Yaseppochi-gumi" should
*not* be considered models of courtesy.  The man is clearly an outlaw
and probably insane ;-)

A final possibility is that some mail exchanger machine has simply
gone crazy (more usually, come into existence crazy), and is
regurgitating copies of its entire mail spool onto the 'Net over and
over again.  Retribution for this kind of behavior by other
postmasters is likely to be swift and painful; we don't need to deal
with it.