[CQ-Contest] Where did "Reflector" come from?

[N4ZR]

So fundamentally, we're using an older term, no longer quite 
appropriate, to describe amateur radio mailing lists.  Frankly, I like 
that - given the low state of much internet "chat" these days, I'd like 
to see our reflectors remain distinct.

73, Pete N4ZR
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On 6/11/2019 9:36 AM, Michael Adams wrote:
> I remember "reflector" from my BBS days in the early/mid 1980's.
>
> I also remember that when I got to the internet in 1990, there was a technical distinction between "reflector" and ("mailing list"/"LISTSERV").   Reflectors were "dumb" ways to direct email to a manually maintained list of addressees; anything sent to the reflector list, including error messages, would go to everyone on the list.
>
> Mailing lists were smarter things, where a program would be used to maintain the distribution list; eventually people could add or remove themselves by sending a message to administrative addresses associated with specific lists; and the program would attempt to filter out error messages (or offer an administrator the power to moderate the list) to avoid unwanted traffic (a concern at 300/1200/2400 bps dial-up speeds).  LISTSERV was probably the first (or at least the first to be widely used) mailing list software, followed later by Majordomo and Mailman.
>