>Roger Merchberger wrote:
> >Rumor has it that Jay West may have mentioned these words:
> >[Snip]
> >equipment available, and I don't want to take that opportunity away from the
> >list. I see two options:
> >1) I can close the list from non-subscriber posts
> >2) I can require non-subscriber posts be approved before I send them to the
> >list
> Jay, I don't want to insult your intelligence, but I've been doing
> listserver & mail server admin for ~~7 years, so if you do need some
> advice, lemme know.
> There is a 3rd option, and it's called TMDA, or Tagged Message Delivery
> Agent. (or pretty darned close) It can go right with your list, and
> automatically whitelist anyone who's subscribed, but anyone who's not
> subbed to the list, the message is held in a seperate queue for around 48
> hrs. or so (it's configurable) and a confirmation message is sent back to
> the original sender. If the confirmation is replied to, then the original
> message gets submitted to the list. If it's not, after the timeout period
> the message just falls into the bit-bucket behind the server. ;-)
Jerome Fine replies:
I will agree to any decision that Jay makes - Jay you run the list and if
you decide (2) is the way to go, you are entitled to advance notice.
However, I also suggested a 4th option - just tag all such messages
with "[OL] " (Off List) as the four characters at the front. That has
the advantage of showing just how many messages are from Off List
and anyone who wants to filter them automatically can also do that.
After a few weeks, we would have some idea of the volume of
Off List messages plus the percentage of actual spam.
In my very humble opinion, I tend to notice that there are many more
comments about any spam that does get through that the spam itself.
Again, if (2) is the choice Jay makes, I AGREE!
> >I would prefer to do number 2 above. However, this does give me the ability
> >to occasionally see available equipment before the rest of the list. Of
> >course I wouldn't abuse this, but - I don't even want that perception.
> >So.... advice please?
> TMDA would not give you any opportunity of "early browsing", as you
> wouldn't see the message any sooner than the rest of us. (Unless you were
> combing thru the "waiting for confirmation" queue, and you'd have to catch
> the message before confirmation which for most folks wouldn't take long.)
>
> TMDA can be configured to automatically whitelist anyone who confirms their
> first message, then is trusted after that so the only time they'd see a new
> confirmation message is if they mailed from a webmail address, or it can be
> set up to confirm every time an email arrives from a non-subscriber.
>
> Check here:
> http://software.libertine.org/tmda/
>
> Oh, it can also be set up in a "blacklist" configuration as well.
If the volume is small enough, then TDMA may not be needed. But
it is certainly an interesting method. It also requires the spammer
to have an active "reply-to" address which probably most do not
have. However, since at present I have no idea of the "[OL]"
volume, it is quite difficult to decide which solution is better.
Sincerely yours,
Jerome Fine
Received on Thu Feb 21 2002 - 11:34:33 GMT