Administrivia: (was Re: [linux-lvm] shit on the ml [was: fwd: hey its me again])

[Alasdair G Kergon]

> > >>can we now please close the ml for public posts???

> well i don't like the spam too,
> but i think i dislike closed lists even more.

Same here - it would increase the 'nuisance factor' for list members
and increase the amount of work for the list admins.

The amount of spam sent to the list vastly exceeds the genuine email -
luckily for you, almost all the spam gets trapped and you don't see
it:-)

Unluckily for AJ and me, we *do* see it and have to look out for any
genuine messages that got trapped - such messages *do* get delayed.

We review the filters every so often - I've tightened them again today,
trying to take into account the spam that got through recently.

We don't get many false positives, but you can reduce the risk if you:

  - Use properly-formatted headers
  - Use meaningful and specific subject lines - words common in spam,
    such as 'urgent' get trapped
  - Avoid posting HTML
  - Avoid attachments: post URLs instead; send patches in the main
    message body, one patch per email

Also, make sure any vacation or anti-virus program you decide to use 
is set up properly so it doesn't respond to mailing lists (e.g.
ignore messages with bulk 'Precedence' headers).  Addresses that
generate automated messages back to the list/list owner/list admin 
addresses get silently dropped from the list (short grace period).  
[This includes MTA messages saying a message has been in some queue for
X hours and not yet delivered - turn these off for messages with bulk
precedence.]

Alasdair
-- 
agk at uk.sistina.com