[Coco] bit.listserv VS. these moderated lists

[Dennis Bathory-Kitsz]

At 12:42 AM 3/22/05 -0500, Rod Barnhart wrote:
>The BBS package that I used to run, and have
>been trying to find an excuse to set up as telnetable, supports both
>mailing lists and newsgroups. I believe new posts from one to the
>other requires moderator approval (which I see as a requirement for a
>potential gate to prevent the spam problem from coming back) and the
>ability to strip original email addresses when the posts go out to the
>bit.listserv.coco group.
>
>Dennis, would you, specifically (as moderator of the maltimedia
>group), have any issues with this? Anyone else object? I think the
>last thing we need is a fractured community. I see Boisy's point in
>wanting to rejoin what has already been fractured, and James' point in
>not wanting to fracture what we've got on this list. A properly
>configured gateway seems to be the solution to both problems. Those
>who want to go back can. Those who want to stay put can. With a good
>gateway, both groups can be assured that their messages are reaching
>the largest possible audience.

We have a membership 300-400 on all three interconnected groups, more with
Gmane. If we can pick up those newcomers (or oldcomers) via
bit.listserv.coco, so much the better.

Here is what has been successful:
1. No spam
2. Complete interconnect among Yahoo, Gmane, and maltedmedia
3. No duplicates by default
4. Obfuscated email at Gmane, but answerable via Gmane's servers

Everyone please note that the above has not been without some cost of labor
and technology. Yahoo has spam filtering, as does Gmane, and I have to
attend to quite a few spam messages every day that bounce to the
administrator address. All the moderators have to give things attention,
including requests for new memberships (each of which requires research).

If you can assure the 'good part' will continue, I'd guess your suggestion
is welcome news for everyone. Until John Malmberg can resurrect the
Princeton management to reconnect their mailing list gateway, here's what I
would suggest:

1. Get messages from Gmane for redistribution (they have an RSS feed if
that helps). Because Gmane already creates an obfuscated but answerable
(and spam-filtered) email address, it can be safely redistributed to
bit.listserv.coco
2. Make your system a subscriber to just one of the other options (Yahoo,
maltedmedia, or Gmane) so that any message coming through you from
bit.listserv.coco will be properly distributed to the other groups. Include
the original headers & message ID if you can, so that threads don't get
broken, and pass it through a trained spam filter first (or moderate by hand).
3. Here's the tricky part: Filter the duplicates that you submit so they
don't get RE-redistributed back to bit.listserv.coco in an endless loop.
(It only takes a few minutes to flood lists ... I'm a member of the
Document Management list, and one day a failed duplicate filter caused a
loop of nearly 1,400 identical messages [AND the "help!! stop this!!"
replies] to be distributed until the moderator was able to turn it off!)

I think a properly-configured gateway like that would make everybody happy.

(Since I see Boisy has just unsubbed from the maltedmedia list this very
minute, I'm sending a cc to him of this message.)

Dennis