-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Chris Santerre writes:
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > Sent: Friday, July 29, 2005 6:53 PM
> > To: scottn
> > Cc: [email protected]
> > Subject: Re: PROPOSAL: create "SpamAssassin Rules Project" 
> > 
> > 
> > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> > Hash: SHA1
> > 
> > 
> > scottn writes:
> > > > ... few rule writers.
> > > > This is explicitly what you (we) are trying to change.
> > > 
> > > Is there a HOWTO for prospective rules writers?
> > > Examples maybe?
> > > 
> > > If so, it should be more obvious from the spamassassin main 
> > web page.
> > > If not, then IMO documentation about the current process would
> > > be more helpful than changing for some other process, no matter
> > > how much "better" the new process is.
> > 
> > the current process is like this -- 
> > 
> > - - contributor develops rules
> > - - opens a bugzilla bug about it
> > - - attaches the ruleset, as a file
> > - - signs a CLA, if it's a big ruleset
> > - - SpamAssassin committers come along, extract the rules, 
> > and copy them
> >   into "rules/70_testing.cf"; possibly renaming them along the way!
> > - - later -- those rules are mass-checked
> > - - later -- the results are available on the web
> > - - if results are good:
> >   - the rules are checked in
> > - - if bad:
> >   - they're not.
> > 
> > The failures are:
> > 
> > - - there's too much human legwork involved.  cut out requiring the
> >   committers to schlep stuff around just to test the rules.
> 
> Auto corpus checks being the first line is the best method. Only after
> getting those results back to the rule writter for corrections, should a
> complete mass check be done. 

well, for a contributor who wasn't already "in the loop", they'd still
have to go via some other human to get them tested, under the current
proposed new system... mind you, I think this is unavoidable, and
OK as long as we have enough people with privs anyway.

(Reason: I don't think we're yet secure with a system where *anyone's*
regexps would run on various "real" computers -- security and DoS issues.
"full FOO /.* .* .* .* .*/" could really run slow, and there may be
potential code-execution holes in the regexp system.)


> > - - there's no defined way to feed back results from testing 
> > to the original
> >   contributor, which can result in stuff getting overlooked
> 
> The above is key. Many times a simple regex change can make an OK rule into
> a GREAT rule. 

yeah.


> > - - having to rename the rules is a bit of a mess.  not sure 
> > if there is a good way to fix that though
> 
> Do you mean simply categorizing the names, or the rights to rename? 

no -- the problem is that a rule that comes in as "GREAT_RULE" may come
out the other end as "MID_INVALID_BAT_4", and there's no way to track the
rule renames from end to end, without following it slowly back
through SVN history (which is hard work).

naming isn't really much of a big deal but it'd be nice to have some way
to keep track of that.  (not that I can think of it.)

- --j.
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.2.5 (GNU/Linux)
Comment: Exmh CVS

iD8DBQFC7shwMJF5cimLx9ARAg+oAJ9u3m5yppyxaQ6GVnsoIg0TM6b1JQCgs0zi
TmW6wpDmZoqZteSWsFP4PgI=
=vCPu
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

Reply via email to