PREFACE: I'm setting replies to this post to be posted in
mozilla.general. If you don't want to subscribe to mozilla.general, you
send your response to my email address and I'll post it there.
_The problem_
Spam in the newsgroups.
_How is it happening_
These newsgroups are mirrored between lists.mozilla.org,
news.mozilla.org, and Google Groups. All the spam is coming via Google
Groups, and Google is doing nothing to stop it.
_What are the proposed changes to fix it in other newsgroups_
The plan for the developer newsgroups is laid out at
<https://wiki.mozilla.org/Discussion_Forums/Proposal>. There is more
information there about the details of the problem. The solution for
other newsgroups basically goes like this:
* all posts require moderator approval
* the moderator can add you to a whitelist, which means all your posts
will be automatically approved
_What is the plan for the support newsgroups_
Because most threads in the support newsgroups are started by new
posters, who often don't post in other threads, and rarely come back
after their issue is fixed, the plan for the developer newsgroups isn't
ideal for the support newsgroups. So I want to lay out our options and
get your feedback.
_The options_
A) We mark the Google Groups end as read-only. This is not an option in
the developer newsgroups, because web-access is mandatory. But for
support, there are other (better) web-based support forums
(support.mozilla.com, getsatisfaction, mozillazine, etc.), so the
ability to post here via the web isn't really preventing users from
getting web-based support.
To see what a read-only Google Group looks like, go to
<http://groups.google.com/group/mozilla.support.general>
However, I'm not sure this will stop spam that is cross-posted from
other Google Groups. It may prevent people in the developer newsgroups
from cross-posting to the support newsgroups via Google. And I'm not
sure if users looking for help via the Google Groups end will know where
to go, after they see that they cannot post.
B) We implement the same plan as for the developer newsgroups, but only
contributors are added to the whitelist. We then add more moderators, to
increase the chances of a new thread getting approved quickly.
However, this requires vigilance from moderators, and there may not be
enough to eliminate the latency.
C) We configure the newsgroups like the dev groups, but automatically
approve every post, and let SpamAssassin filter the spam. (SpamAssassin
is already installed on the mailing list, and has been doing a very good
job of catching the spam and holding it for moderation.)
However, the mailing lists still gets the odd message from non-members
thinking it's a private support address. Right now, posts from
non-members are automatically rejected and given a message explaining
that this is a community forum. But if we go with plan C, those messages
would be automatically approved.
_Why this post_
I'm looking for feedback. Which plan do you prefer? Are there any
caveats we've missed? Any solutions you'd like to add?
--
Chris Ilias <http://ilias.ca>
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