[ZODB-Dev] zodb-dev list policies

[CLIFFORD ILKAY]

At 01:14 AM 20/06/2004 -0400, Tim Peters wrote:
>Over on the zope and zope-dev lists, there's currently agitation to make
>them members-only mailing lists.  The point is that spam could not get thru
>then (unless posted by a member).
>
>What would zodb-dev members like?
>
>Posting by a list member would not be affected, unless you attempted to send
>a message from an email account other than one you subscribed with.  In the
>latter case, your message would be bounced back to you.
>
>You could worm around that by subscribing to zodb-dev with that address too,
>then going to your list membership page on the web and checking the box to
>suspend email delivery on that account.  Then you could post using that
>account too, but wouldn't also get zodb-dev email on that account.
>
>I'm the list admin for zodb-dev, and don't have a preference.  If you do,
>and it's strong enough to scream it, shout.  The loudest screamer will win
><wink>.  By default, I won't change the current policy (anyone can post
>here, member or not).

Hello Tim,

Since you asked, I will send the same thing that I have already sent to you 
privately in response to this message hoping that it would sway those who 
may not see the value of subscribers only posting.

I co-admin an unmoderated Mailman list with over 1000 subscribers from all 
over the world. Our list has been subscriber posting only since day one and 
only the list admins can query the list subscriber database. Last year, 
when we had *one* piece of spam get through, we had about 20 messages 
complaining about it which should give you an idea of how infrequently we 
receive spam on that list. The spam got through as result of a simple 
finger fumble on my part where instead or "Reject", I had clicked on "Approve".

After keeping track of how much of the mail that was being held for 
approval was spam vs. how much of it was from legit subscribers who 
happened to be posting from different email addresses or posting to the 
wrong list address, we found that under 5% was legit. Our list, like the 
Zope list, targets developers. If a developer is so clueless as to not 
understand that they have to post from the *exact* address they subscribed 
from, I have little sympathy for them. I think all you need to do is to 
make it clear on the subscription page that if one wants to post from 
multiple addresses, one should subscribe from all those addresses and set 
all but one to NOMAIL. Posting from ANY other address will result in their 
mail not getting through. This has worked marvelously for us. We do not 
even reject mail from non-subscribers any more. We simply discard it. 
Rejecting mail from spammers is futile because you end up getting the 
bounce messages to your list admin address. Of course it is only a matter 
of time before spammers realize that all they have to do is to subscribe to 
lists and spam away but until then, this works.

I am sure you have better things to do than to baby sit the list so 
anything that reduces the amount of effort you have to put into 
administering the list is a good thing. Cheers and keep up the good work!

Regards,

Clifford Ilkay
Dinamis Corporation
3266 Yonge Street, Suite 1419
Toronto, Ontario
Canada M4N 3P6

Tel: 416-410-3326