list changes & RFC on archives & rack chassis

From: Cini, Richard <RCini_at_congressfinancial.com>
Date: Wed Mar 20 11:19:33 2002

Jay:

        I like the HTML filter, although the number of HTML posts is pretty
small.

        The only thing I ask you to consider is somehow obfuscating member's
email addresses in the searchable article database. I've noticed spam in two
email accounts that I've previously used when posting to the list. These two
accounts I don't use in any Web-related way that could be clipped by a
spambot (like posting in newgroups). That's why my MSN account is mostly
spam but my work account and Optimum Online account are virtually spam-free.

        Obviously this makes it hard for off-listers to contact individual
members relating specifically to that post. Comments?

Rich

==========================
Richard A. Cini, Jr.
Congress Financial Corporation
1133 Avenue of the Americas
30th Floor
New York, NY 10036
(212) 545-4402
(212) 840-6259 (facsimile)


-----Original Message-----
From: Jay West [mailto:jwest_at_classiccmp.org]
Sent: Wednesday, March 20, 2002 11:54 AM
To: classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org
Subject: list changes & RFC on archives & rack chassis


1) Ok, here are the two things I was considering doing to change the mailing
list settings....

A) Reject posts to the list which contain any kind of HTML content. I think
this would be fairly unobtrusive - most people don't want HTML posts here
anyways. And - I would bet that most all SPAM contains some form of HTML, so
this might not get rid of all SPAM forever, but I think it would make the
very few that come here dwindle to even less. Comments?

B) I also like the 'self-policing' idea of making posts to the list from
non-subscribers get a subject tag of [OL] or something like that. This one I
am not sure how to do off the top of my head, but would think it pretty
straightforward. Comments?

2) WRT the archives at www.classiccmp.org THAT is a project I have fallen
far behind in. When I moved the list from the old ISP to the new ISP (me in
both cases, long story)... something broke in getting emails from the list
to the archive mechanism. I noticed this maybe a month ago, and when I
started digging into it I realized it was time for a change - the archives
there are not searchable and that just isn't acceptable. So - I have been
looking for software to HTML'ize the mailing list that allows searching as
well. I really need suggestions here as my initial searches came up less
than satisfactory. The archives are currently using hypermail. My criteria
is something that is FreeBSD and Sendmail friendly, and allows searching the
archives OR viewing them by thread. I don't mind if the emails need to get
stored in a database, but if they do, mysql must be the database used (picky
aren't I). The only package I found had statements all over it to the effect
that "this package will no longer be supported by the author". I did notice
the list archives for netsaint that are stored at sourceforge look REALLY
nice, and do allow searching, but didn't see a good way to follow threads. I
would greatly appreciate it if anyone can point me to mail list archives
that work well (for the user) and look nice (or to software for unix that
does the same). Please send these suggestions to me off-list at
jwest_at_classiccmp.org

3) This isn't really important - just random "what if" thinking out loud - I
was considering moving the mailing list and mail list archives off to a
separate machine that does nothing but classiccmp. This is being considered
for logistics reasons, not for horsepower/load reasons. I have all the
spare components (cpu, memory, drives, etc) but no spare rackmount chassis.
I can just order a rackmount chassis under my company which I'm perfectly
willing to do, but was wondering if anyone had a rackmount chassis just
laying around that they didn't need and would donate to the cause. The key
criteria - EIA units (space!). I would strongly prefer a 1U (1 EIA unit, or
1.75 inches) tall unit. We charge on rackspace by the inch, so I want the
machine to take as little space as possible so I can obviously sell the
rackspace to other paying customers. I would consider a 2U (2.5 inches) tall
unit (which I already have spare) as a fall-back plan, but definitely
nothing taller than that. Anyone have a spare laying around? If so, please
contact me OFF LIST at jwest_at_classiccmp.org

Regards,

Jay West
Received on Wed Mar 20 2002 - 11:19:33 GMT