Last updated: August 2026. Every list below was checked with a direct query (INFO/LIST to its own host, or to the global LISTSERV.NET directory), not just web search. Lists marked dead † no longer exist at their listed address; the rest are confirmed to still exist, though not all have confirmed current activity levels.
To subscribe to any LISTSERV list, send email to the list's LISTSERV address with the body: SUBSCRIBE listname Your Name
| List | Topics | LISTSERV Address | List Address | Archives / Info | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IBM-MAIN | HLASM, ISPF, MVS, z/OS, PL/I, REXX, z/Architecture, JCL, general mainframe | listserv@listserv.ua.edu | ibm-main@listserv.ua.edu | Archives (login required) | Confirmed active, re-verified 2026-08-28: real, working subscribe page at listserv.ua.edu, description matches ("IBM Mainframe Discussion List"); high traffic |
| TSO-REXX † | TSO/E REXX, ISPF, CLISTs, z/OS scripting | listserv@vm.marist.edu | tso-rexx@vm.marist.edu | — | Dead. A direct INFO/LIST query to LISTSERV.IT.MARIST.EDU (the real current Marist LISTSERV host -- vm.marist.edu never resolves) returned "There is no TSO-REXX list on this server". The only "active" evidence ever found for this one traced to a 2004-era cached page and an expired-certificate host; no Usenet gateway evidence either. Was previously marked "Confirmed active" without any of this having been checked. |
| ISPF-L † | ISPF dialog development, SDSF, PDF, edit macros | listserv@listserv.nd.edu | ispf-l@listserv.nd.edu | Usenet-gateway archive (narkive, dead) | Dead. listserv.nd.edu refuses connections directly and has no current search-indexed presence; a direct INFO ISPF-L query to the global LISTSERV.NET directory returned "No LISTSERV list by the name of ISPF-L is known to exist". The narkive archive is old evidence of real past activity, not current existence: like many 1990s/2000s LISTSERV lists, ISPF-L's traffic was gated to Usenet under the bit.listserv.* hierarchy (here, bit.listserv.ispf-l) -- that gateway went quiet in 2022 (most recent visible activity 2022-06-04) well before the list itself was confirmed gone. Was previously marked "Confirmed active" without any of this having been checked. |
| REXX-L † | Classic REXX and Object REXX, all platforms | listserv@listserv.uark.edu | rexx-l@listserv.uark.edu | — | Dead, or never at this address. The "confirmed to exist on listserv.uark.edu" claim was a false positive -- verified directly (negative-control test, a nonsense list name) that this LISTSERV's archive-index page returns the identical "There are no web archives for the [name] list..." response for a list that does not exist, so it never actually distinguished real from fake. A direct INFO REXX-L query to the global LISTSERV.NET directory separately returned "No LISTSERV list by the name of REXX-L is known to exist". The listserv.uark.edu address shown here may simply be wrong, the same way PL1-L's and ASSEMBLER-LIST's were. |
| VMESA-L † | VM/ESA and z/VM discussions | listserv@listserv.uark.edu | vmesa-l@listserv.uark.edu | — | Dead, or never at this address. Same false-positive methodology as REXX-L (see that row) -- the "confirmed to exist" claim rested on a LISTSERV archive-index page that returns an identical response for a nonexistent list, verified directly with a negative control. A direct INFO VMESA-L query to the global LISTSERV.NET directory returned "No LISTSERV list by the name of VMESA-L is known to exist". The listserv.uark.edu address shown here may simply be wrong, the same way CMS-PIPELINES' turned out to be (real host: listserv.meduniwien.ac.at). |
| CMS-PIPELINES | CMS/TSO Pipelines filter programming | listserv@listserv.meduniwien.ac.at | cms-pipelines@listserv.meduniwien.ac.at | Archives (public, monthly notebook) | Confirmed active 2026-08-28 via a direct INFO CMS-PIPELINES query to the actual server: title "CMS/TSO Pipelines Discussion List", hosted at the Medical University of Vienna (listserv.meduniwien.ac.at), not listserv.uark.edu as this row previously said -- that host address was wrong the same way PL1-L's and ASSEMBLER-LIST's were, and the earlier "confirmed to exist on uark.edu" claim for this list was itself a false positive from the same broken archive-index check that affected REXX-L and VMESA-L above. Owner christian.reichetzeder@meduniwien.ac.at; open subscription with confirmation; archives are public (unlike PL1-L's private ones). |
| PL1-L | PL/I language and compilers | listserv@listserv.dartmouth.edu | pl1-l@listserv.dartmouth.edu | Archives (private -- confirmed via direct INFO PL1-L query) | Confirmed active 2026-08-28 via a direct INFO PL1-L query to the actual server -- real, current, and specific, not inferred: title "PL1 (language) discussions"; four named owners actively administering it; open subscription with email confirmation; weekly private archive notebook maintained. (This row previously listed listserv.isc.ro, which was wrong -- corrected earlier the same day via web search alone, now independently confirmed by the list's own server.) |
| RACF-L | IBM RACF (z/OS Security Server), mainframe security | listserv@listserv.uga.edu | racf-l@listserv.uga.edu | Archives (login required) | Confirmed active 2026-08-28 via a direct INFO RACF-L query to the actual server: title "RACF Discussion List", created 04/23/1991, owner Jean Snow (jean@uga.edu, same owner as ASSEMBLER-LIST on the same host), open subscription with confirmation, monthly archive notebook, private (owner-only) review. |
| ASSEMBLER-LIST | HLASM, z/Architecture assembler programming | listserv@listserv.uga.edu | assembler-list@listserv.uga.edu | Archives (also mirrored on mail-archive.com) | Confirmed active 2026-08-28 via a direct INFO ASSEMBLER-LIST query to the actual server -- created 06/01/1988, still actively administered (editor/owner Jean Snow, jean@uga.edu), daily digest available, monthly archive notebook. Also confirms the listserv.uga.edu address (corrected earlier the same day via mail-archive.com alone -- this row previously told readers to send the subscribe command to listserv@listserv.vm.ibm.com, contradicting its own LISTSERV Address column) is right. |
† Confirmed dead: a direct query (INFO/LIST to the list's own host, or to the global LISTSERV.NET directory) established the list does not exist at its listed address, superseding whatever web/DNS/Usenet-gateway evidence once suggested otherwise. Several of these (TSO-REXX, ISPF-L, REXX-L, VMESA-L) had real activity decades ago -- some of that era's LISTSERV traffic was mirrored to Usenet under the bit.listserv.* newsgroup hierarchy, which is why old gateway archives (e.g. ISPF-L's on narkive) exist even though the list itself is gone now. Every other row without a dagger has been directly confirmed to still exist, though not all have confirmed current activity levels.
| Forum | Topics | Type | URL | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open Mainframe Project Slack | z/OS, HLASM, COBOL, Zowe, open source mainframe tools | Slack workspace | openmainframeproject.org/community | Active |
| Hercules-390 | Hercules emulator, z/Architecture, MVS, VM internals | Groups.io mailing list | hercules-390.groups.io | Active |
| H390-VM | VM/370 and z/VM on Hercules | Groups.io mailing list | groups.io/g/H390-VM | Active |
| RexxLA mailing lists | ooRexx, NetRexx, Regina Rexx development | Mailing lists (see website) | rexxla.org | Active |
| comp.lang.rexx | Classic REXX, all platforms | Usenet newsgroup | news:comp.lang.rexx | Low traffic |
| comp.lang.pl1 | PL/I language | Usenet newsgroup | news:comp.lang.pl1 | Low traffic |
| CBT Tape | MVS/z/OS free software; not a forum but essential reference | Software archive | cbttape.org | Active |
Send a blank email to the LISTSERV address (not the list address) with the following in the message body (not the subject):
SUBSCRIBE listname Your Full Name
For example, to subscribe to IBM-MAIN: send to listserv@listserv.ua.edu with body SUBSCRIBE IBM-MAIN Jane Smith.
Most lists offer a digest mode. Once subscribed, send SET listname DIGEST to the LISTSERV address.