[R] why does the unsubscribe not work

[Martin Maechler]

>>>>> "PD" Peter Dalgaard <p.dalgaard at biostat.ku.dk>
>>>>>     on 14 Jun 2005 12:06:53 +0200 writes:

    PD> bry at xdocs.dk writes:

    >> Hi I have tried to unsubscribe from this list now three
    >> times, I desperately need to unsubscribe from this list
    >> from this address because the list is choking this
    >> mailbox.

    >> Below are the various suggested ways of unsubscribing
    >> 
    ..............
    .............. (whining whining ...)
    ..............

    PD> What are the timeframes involved? There is always some time delay. In
    PD> particular, there is no way of stopping mails that have already been
    PD> sent by the list handling software. And if your mailbox is clogged,
    PD> things may stay in the queue for up to five days before the relevant
    PD> mail relay gives up.

    PD> If your password has stopped working, it suggests to me that you have
    PD> in fact already been unsubscribed.

yes, and that's exactly true. He has been unsubscribed when he
wanted it -- and IIRC the confirmation e-mail even tells you
that you may continue to receive mail for a short while after
unsubscribing.

Yes, I ("r-help-owner") have seen your e-mail -- without any
politeness usually seen in letters including no name of sender --
among many other things that I must do or want to complete.  
If "*-owner" was requested to deal with subscription and unsubscriptions
``manually'' each time someone unsubcscribes or subscribes,
this would amount to deal with about 20 such e-mails per day.
I'm usually inclined to reply to polite e-mail letters, but even
then only when more urgent duties have been fulfilled first.
It seems that 99% of all R-help subscribers can deal with the
system themselves.

Regards,
Martin Maechler, ETH Zurich