Mark Blythe <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:

> I'm just beginning to try TMDA, and the frequent mention of
> "auto-whitelisting" is very confusing to me.  It's my understanding
> that the default behavior is to automatically whitelist senders who
> successfully respond to the challenge email and confirm they are
> (presumably) a real human.

This is not the case.  You must set the CONFIRM_APPEND variable for
this to be true.  The default is that CONFIRM_APPEND is set to nothing
and that successful confirmations are not recordedd anywhere.

The term "auto-whitelisting" simply refers to setting the
CONFIRM_APPEND variable in your config file.  If you've done that, you
are auto-whitelisting.

> In my tests, this does appear to be the case, as everybody who
> confirms is added to my "confirmed" list and is no longer challenged
> from that point on.

This is because CONFIRM_APPEND is set to the path of your "confirmed"
list file.

> While I do understand that "confirmed" and "whitelist" are two
> separate list files, for all practical purposes they seem to be
> treated identically.  Both lists have identical rules in my default
> incoming filter (created by tmda-cgi):
> 
> 
> from-file /home/me/.tmda/lists/whitelist ok
> from-file /home/me/.tmda/lists/confirmed ok
> 
> So what's the difference?  I can see the benefit to the hook that
> CONFIRM_APPEND provides in some situations, most notablly if you'd
> like to append confirmed users to a separate shared file of some
> kind.

Or, as Andrew pointed out, if you want to tag outgoing mail
differently for explicitly whitelisted users.  In a nutshell, the
point is flexibility.  If, in your particular situation, you don't
need that flexibility, point CONFIRM_APPEND at your whitelist file and
you'll only have to deal with one file.

> Is it also beneficial in situations where you aren't sharing lists
> with other users?  As frequently as this feature is mentioned, I'm
> left with the impression that it is very important for common usage,
> but so far I just don't see why.

The feature of auto-whitelisting is very beneficial.  Whether you use
a separate list file for auto-whitelisted/confirmed senders is not
important, except in the context of your needs.


Tim
_____________________________________________
tmda-users mailing list ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
http://tmda.net/lists/listinfo/tmda-users

Reply via email to