Re: minimalist

[Greg Troxel <gdt%lexort.com@localhost>]

steve%prd.co.uk@localhost (Steve Blinkhorn) writes:

> I am trying to set up a simple mailing list for a self-help group of
> elderly ladies during the pandemic lockdown.  Their level of computer
> skill is minimal: essentially I want something where all they have to
> do is hit Reply to any message that comes to them.
>
> Anyone use this on NetBSD who can help?  Or suggest an alternative -
> we only need to support two or three dozen users, so something
> lightweight is what I'm looking for.

For the most part, just making an entry in /etc/mail/aliases should
suffice.  E.e.g

foo:
	janedoe%example.com@localhost
        alicesmith%example.org@localhost

(and then run newliasess).  However, there's no way to unsubscribe,
other than asking the list admin.  Some hosting providers require lists
to have opt in (called confirmed opt in in the spam world) to add
people, and this runs afoul of that (which might or might not be ok this
week, for your purposes).

However, you said "just hit reply".  For any correctly-configured
mailing list, that won't work, because reply composes an email to the
sender.   reply-all is what they should be doing, and that will work
with the old-school list  above.

You might also try mailman.  It might seem more complicated, but it's
also possible that the total effort to succeed is less.

Mailman can insert a reply-to: header pointing at the list.  While I
consider this to be the wrong thing to do, it may be that for your
limited list and members it makes sense in the moment.