If they got a polite(ish) bounce back, that could be bad. Say for instance someone sends a spam email to this list from an address that does not really exist. Majordomo sees it's not a member and gives it a bounce back. A Mailer Deamon finds out that the address does not exist, and bounces it back again to us? Or does Majordomo check first? I think that if it's going to be anything, then it should drop them. That leaves the next point open to discussion. What happens if an incoming freshman hears about the LUG, finds out the email address but didn't sign up? Simply wanted to ask the LUG a question? Or another LUG queries this LUG without signing up? Those are just a few of the many possibilities out there. They send something but it doesn't go through? Maybe we can have it to (a) see if the address really exists (b) if it does then send them a polite message explaining that only LUG members may email the LUG (c) give an email address (spam free format) where they can send email to if they have any questions (ie, the pres' email). The problem always occurs is that if we give info in the bounce backs and if someone is spamming us (versus a bot) then that person gets the info (ie, how to join the list, email one of us, etc). If we just drop non-member sent emails or spam emails, then someone inquiring about the LUG can't ask questions without knowing the web site.
Umm...sorry if that was a bit long. What I'm trying to say is that how it is is the way that makes most sense. If you personally have a problem with the spam, then set some custom spam filters to look what is after the [UM-LINUX]. But ignoring non-members just doesn't seem practical. -Russ -----Original Message----- From: UM Linux User's Group [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Rob Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2006 4:44 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [UM-LINUX] WTF??? On Wed, Feb 22, 2006 at 04:31:50PM -0500, Peter Teuben wrote: > yOn Wed, 22 Feb 2006, Ben Stern wrote: > > >On Mon, Feb 20, 2006 at 10:40:59AM -0500, Daniel Carter wrote: > >>This debate comes up every year or so. > >>I can convert the listserv to be members-only if wanted, anyone opposed? > > > >The typical counterargument is that it is a barrier to new members (such as > >the people who hear about the LUG at the FLF and so on). > > i don't think that's a strong argument anymore. It's trivial to subscribe > and be a member, takes a few minutes of following a majordomo signup. > Almost > all newsletters i subscribe: > - do this > - have spam (but fairly mild compared to my normal spam box) > so go figure.... I agree with Peter, with the only caveat being -- if we block non-list members from posting, does mail from non-list members get silently dropped or do they get a polite(-ish) bounce? Also, FWIW, I've totally given up on majordomo and moved everything in my contorl to mailman. - Rob .
