[Talk] [Bsd] Unwanted spam (fwd)

[David Lloyd]

David,

> We've been getting spam on the bsd list for quite some time.  I have
> raised this subject (to postmaster and the bsd list) a few times.
> It should be set to "subscriber posting only", which would take almost
> no time.  I recognise that we're a (mostly) volunteer run organisation,
> but that's no reason to piss off people by ennui, especially important
> people like noie staff.  I respectfully request that the list be changed
> asap, indeed that all of the (member) mailing lists be set accordingly?

I might make a few suggestions.

I think that the openness of the lists stems from a few factors:


1. List admins and many list members don't even SEE spam e-mails

 - I am guilty of this (but I'm not an admin)

Why?

We run Spamassassin or a similar tool so we can inadvertently miss the
spam that gets sent via a mailing list.

2. List admins often don't like member only mailing lists because list
members often can't decide what address to post from

 - I've been one of those horrid members

A solution that often works is to subscribe with multiple e-mail addresses
but only set the receive flag on one of them. It's slightly more painful
but if you've got something really important to say then it really isn't
much more effort.

I also think that AUUG could setup SpamAssassin to run on its own list
mail server. AUUG could set it up so that messages with a score above some
preset level (eg 4.5) gets held for moderation. This approach is used by
lists.linux.org.au and is very effective [I run two lists on their
servers].


DSL

-- 
The Open Source Business Network in SA
 ...will be open soon! Watch this space.