Listserv returns to IBM mainframes

Listserv, the software used to run countless e-mail discussion groups on the Internet, once again is available for IBM mainframes by way of the Linux operating system, Listserv seller L-Soft said Tuesday.

The move was made possible by IBM's decision to support Linux, a clone of Unix, on its mainframe line. Listserv originally was developed in 1986 on an IBM mainframe, but customers had moved to run it on Unix and Windows instead, and the mainframe version was discontinued, L-Soft said.