On Fri, 4 Aug 2000, Avi Norowitz wrote:

> Is a subscription required to post to this list? I'm asking because I've
> gotten two spams (most likely from the same spammer) so far sent through
> this list. I think requiring subscription to post would help discourage
> spam, if it's not set that way already.

Subscriptions are not needed to post. That was a deliberate decision
(which was made well before I got involved :-) . Instead of restricting
posting to members, we use filters at the mail server to block
spam. Obviously they need some tuning.

The reason for this is two-fold. One is that a number of messages get
posted to multiple lists. If someone replies to a message and that reply
goes to lists s/he is not on, that posting bounces. I'm on the mkLinux
lists, and they are restricted in their posting. I've stopped replying to
most messages because of this restriction - it was just too frustraiting
to get bounce messages.

Secondly, we have people who post through news gateways. Even if we fixed
the first problem, there is no easy way to keep it so that these folks
could keep posting to the lists. :-(

Take care,

Bill