Mass Mail On Isp

Hi all,I was directed to this forum from the php forum since my isp has made changes and php mail has been taking too long (5 hours for < 400 e-mails). I am a noob to perl and I have looked on the forums and google, but since I am a noob, I really don't know what I am looking for!!! I need a script that will send out a mass mailing (at this time I have 1700+ subscribers to my site) with html or plain text, would read the file into the body of the e-mail, and would allow for attachments (would be used occasionally). I need this to read e-mails from mysql table with members e-mail addresses. Are the headers for perl mail any different than php mail? I would assume no, since a header is a header? I have contacted my isp and I can run perl scripts and I have access to smtp on my server if that makes a difference. I won't be able to place any third party executables, only scripts.What advice to you have? I am not looking for someone to code a solution for me, but point me in the correct direction to learn and/or if there is a pre-made script. Learning perl probably wouldn't hurt me!Thank you for your time and consideration,

My approach to your solution was to find something that you don't have to spend too much time researching. I knew a listservice back when it was free but no longer now. So I found this service http://www.bravenet.com/webtools/elist/index.php a free service which it will do all the things you're looking for--however you must re-register email address.

Another free mailing list service is Yahoo Group. But the draw back is that a member has to have Yahoo email account and must manually register each email.

Anyways, instead of having your own script I thought it would be wiser to have external free service that will not jeopardize your hosting privilege with Xisto (Xisto site admin received many spam activities and yours might be considered as one).