The Dist-gen Mailing List (also known as Dist-Gen) is for people who have an interest in genealogy in the Calgary area. It is also used for discussing AFHS, SIG and SIGlet issues. If you are interested in technology issues that face genealogists (e.g., genealogical software, computer security, website development), please consider joining our compsigtips mailing list.

Subscribers are expected to use discretion in posting a message. Improper language and rude or irresponsible messages won't be tolerated. We reserve the right to accept, reject, or revoke membership for any reason.

You must join the mailing list to post a message to it

Please keep in mind that Dist-Gen is managed by a volunteer who must manager a number of list duties not visible to the subscribers. But, be sure that the volunteer manager will attend to all administration, queries, etc. in a timely matter - but responses to queries will not be immediate.

Generally acceptable topics include:

AFHS SIG and SIGlet issues
Technology issues that face genealogists
Questions about a genealogical information resource being available in Alberta or online
Comments on AFHS programs
Recommendations of websites that are genealogically relevant (e.g., map sites, historical context sites, etc.)

Unacceptable topics include:

Spam
Chain mail
Attachments
Questions relating to a subscription including SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE (see below for correct place to send those questions)
Requests for lookups that you could do yourself
Virus warning messages

Virus warning messages are the job of the list owner if needed. You should check out all virus information using a virus information Library to see if you are infected or if a warning message is a hoax. Some excellent libraries are:

Addresses

Post:
Subscribe:
Unsubscribe:
Problems:

List Commands

Unsubscribe: Send mail to with ONLY the following command in the BODY of your e-mail message: unsubscribe dist-gen or from another account, besides the one you subscribed from:
unsubscribe dist-gen youraddress@your.isp
Subscribe: Send mail to with ONLY the following command in the BODY of your e-mail message: subscribe dist-gen

It doesn't matter what is in the subject line.

Please note: you will need to receive 4 messages from the software before you succeed in subscribing (you only get one when you successfully unsubscribe.)

Most of the maintenance activities such as subscribe, unsubscribe, and change of address for the dist-gen list are handled by the list server program and response is immediate. The program requires that commands be in a specific format. If it does not understand your command it will bounce the message back to you. Just fix it up and resend it.

Some normally unseen activities are done by a human volunteer who will attempt to attend to them in a timely manner.

Reminder

AFHS administers the Dist-Gen as a service; access to and use of the Dist-Gen is guided by the following conditions which are required of all subscribers. The conditions may be revised occasionally and when that happens, they will be distributed to all subscribers of the Dist-Gen.

Dist-Gen messages are not confidential, and they can easily be copied, forwarded, and published - so be careful in what you say and what possibly-copyrighted material you post in a message to the Dist-Gen. You must not post messages to Dist-Gen which contain copyrighted material, unless the author has given permission for this specific purpose.

The statements, views and opinions contained in such communications and materials are those of the author and are not endorsed by, nor do they necessarily reflect the opinion of the AFHS