Is there a way to post "silently" to a mailing list?
What I mean specifically - is it possible to send a message to a list such that it goes into the archives, but it not distributed to list members?
thanks
On Thu, Dec 04, 2014 at 10:38:34PM +1100, Andrew Stuart wrote:
What I mean specifically - is it possible to send a message to a list such that it goes into the archives, but it not distributed to list members?
Why ?
-- Alain Williams Linux/GNU Consultant - Mail systems, Web sites, Networking, Programmer, IT Lecturer. +44 (0) 787 668 0256 http://www.phcomp.co.uk/ Parliament Hill Computers Ltd. Registration Information: http://www.phcomp.co.uk/contact.php #include <std_disclaimer.h>
Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking.....what would the legitimate purpose of doing that be?
From: Alain Williams <addw@phcomp.co.uk> To: mailman-users@python.org Sent: Thursday, December 4, 2014 7:41 AM Subject: Re: [Mailman-Users] Is there a way to post "silently" to a mailing list?
On Thu, Dec 04, 2014 at 10:38:34PM +1100, Andrew Stuart wrote:
What I mean specifically - is it possible to send a message to a list such that it goes into the archives, but it not distributed to list members?
Why ?
-- Alain Williams Linux/GNU Consultant - Mail systems, Web sites, Networking, Programmer, IT Lecturer. +44 (0) 787 668 0256 http://www.phcomp.co.uk/ Parliament Hill Computers Ltd. Registration Information: http://www.phcomp.co.uk/contact.php #include <std_disclaimer.h>
Mailman-Users mailing list Mailman-Users@python.org https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/mailman-users Mailman FAQ: http://wiki.list.org/x/AgA3 Security Policy: http://wiki.list.org/x/QIA9 Searchable Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/mailman-users%40python.org/ Unsubscribe: https://mail.python.org/mailman/options/mailman-users/s_doane%40yahoo.com
The reason is so list users are able to record additional information (effectively “notes”) against a mail discussion thread, without making the list noisy. Those notes can then be seen in the archive.
It sounds like there’s no built in way so I’ll probably just modify the source so that a message to BCC results in a silent post. I’d be interested to hear if anyone thinks that approach is likely to cause problems.
thanks
On 4 Dec 2014, at 10:41 pm, Alain Williams <addw@phcomp.co.uk> wrote:
On Thu, Dec 04, 2014 at 10:38:34PM +1100, Andrew Stuart wrote:
What I mean specifically - is it possible to send a message to a list such that it goes into the archives, but it not distributed to list members?
Why ?
-- Alain Williams Linux/GNU Consultant - Mail systems, Web sites, Networking, Programmer, IT Lecturer. +44 (0) 787 668 0256 http://www.phcomp.co.uk/ Parliament Hill Computers Ltd. Registration Information: http://www.phcomp.co.uk/contact.php #include <std_disclaimer.h>
Mailman-Users mailing list Mailman-Users@python.org https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/mailman-users Mailman FAQ: http://wiki.list.org/x/AgA3 Security Policy: http://wiki.list.org/x/QIA9 Searchable Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/mailman-users%40python.org/ Unsubscribe: https://mail.python.org/mailman/options/mailman-users/andrew.stuart%40superc...
On 12/05/2014 02:45 PM, Andrew Stuart wrote:
It sounds like there’s no built in way so I’ll probably just modify the source so that a message to BCC results in a silent post. I’d be interested to hear if anyone thinks that approach is likely to cause problems.
An alternative way would be to create a new address LISTNAME-archive@hostname which would just queue the message in the in queue with an abbreviated pipeline consisting perhaps of just Moderate (to ensure the sender is authorized to post) and ToArchive.
You would need to create scripts/archive which could be a copy of scripts/owner with a few occurrences of 'owner' changed to 'archive' and the final enqueue changed to something like:
inq.enqueue(sys.stdin.read(),
listname=listname,
_plaintext=1,
pipeline=['Moderate', 'ToArchive'],
toarchive=1)The toarchive=1 in the metadata is meaningless, but it would allow different treatment in any handler in the pipeline.
You would also need to modify and recompile src/mail-wrapper.c to add "archive" to the valid commands and add the LISTNAME-archive alias(es) or whatever to the MTA (you could modify Mailman/MTA/Manual.py and/or Mailman/MTA/Postfix.py to generate these).
-- Mark Sapiro <mark@msapiro.net> The highway is for gamblers, San Francisco Bay Area, California better use your sense - B. Dylan
Andrew Stuart writes:
It sounds like there’s no built in way so I’ll probably just modify the source so that a message to BCC results in a silent post.
I find that setting the list to require the list as an explicit addressee is one of the most effective filters for spam that makes it through the MTA's gauntlet. I wouldn't let a *possible* increase in spam stop me, but do check that people aren't spamming your archives, and perhaps strengthen other defenses.
For example, back when my lists still allowed HTML posting, my host got a "cease-and-desist" notice from a MasterCard lawyer. Some miscreant was storing cracked credit card numbers in an HTML comments in messages to the list, and distributing to his "clients" from the Mailman archive. (Of course this is a generic problem, but "silent posting" makes it more dangerous.)
On December 4, 2014 3:38:34 AM PST, Andrew Stuart <andrew.stuart@supercoders.com.au> wrote:
Not by email, but you can use bin/inject to queue the message in the archive queue.
-- Mark Sapiro <mark@msapiro.net> Sent from my Android phone with K-9 Mail. [Unpaid endorsement]
On Thu, Dec 04, 2014 at 10:38:34PM +1100, Andrew Stuart wrote:
What I mean specifically - is it possible to send a message to a list such that it goes into the archives, but it not distributed to list members?
Why ?
-- Alain Williams Linux/GNU Consultant - Mail systems, Web sites, Networking, Programmer, IT Lecturer. +44 (0) 787 668 0256 http://www.phcomp.co.uk/ Parliament Hill Computers Ltd. Registration Information: http://www.phcomp.co.uk/contact.php #include <std_disclaimer.h>
Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking.....what would the legitimate purpose of doing that be?
From: Alain Williams <addw@phcomp.co.uk> To: mailman-users@python.org Sent: Thursday, December 4, 2014 7:41 AM Subject: Re: [Mailman-Users] Is there a way to post "silently" to a mailing list?
On Thu, Dec 04, 2014 at 10:38:34PM +1100, Andrew Stuart wrote:
What I mean specifically - is it possible to send a message to a list such that it goes into the archives, but it not distributed to list members?
Why ?
-- Alain Williams Linux/GNU Consultant - Mail systems, Web sites, Networking, Programmer, IT Lecturer. +44 (0) 787 668 0256 http://www.phcomp.co.uk/ Parliament Hill Computers Ltd. Registration Information: http://www.phcomp.co.uk/contact.php #include <std_disclaimer.h>
Mailman-Users mailing list Mailman-Users@python.org https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/mailman-users Mailman FAQ: http://wiki.list.org/x/AgA3 Security Policy: http://wiki.list.org/x/QIA9 Searchable Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/mailman-users%40python.org/ Unsubscribe: https://mail.python.org/mailman/options/mailman-users/s_doane%40yahoo.com
The reason is so list users are able to record additional information (effectively “notes”) against a mail discussion thread, without making the list noisy. Those notes can then be seen in the archive.
It sounds like there’s no built in way so I’ll probably just modify the source so that a message to BCC results in a silent post. I’d be interested to hear if anyone thinks that approach is likely to cause problems.
thanks
On 4 Dec 2014, at 10:41 pm, Alain Williams <addw@phcomp.co.uk> wrote:
On Thu, Dec 04, 2014 at 10:38:34PM +1100, Andrew Stuart wrote:
What I mean specifically - is it possible to send a message to a list such that it goes into the archives, but it not distributed to list members?
Why ?
-- Alain Williams Linux/GNU Consultant - Mail systems, Web sites, Networking, Programmer, IT Lecturer. +44 (0) 787 668 0256 http://www.phcomp.co.uk/ Parliament Hill Computers Ltd. Registration Information: http://www.phcomp.co.uk/contact.php #include <std_disclaimer.h>
Mailman-Users mailing list Mailman-Users@python.org https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/mailman-users Mailman FAQ: http://wiki.list.org/x/AgA3 Security Policy: http://wiki.list.org/x/QIA9 Searchable Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/mailman-users%40python.org/ Unsubscribe: https://mail.python.org/mailman/options/mailman-users/andrew.stuart%40superc...
On 12/05/2014 02:45 PM, Andrew Stuart wrote:
It sounds like there’s no built in way so I’ll probably just modify the source so that a message to BCC results in a silent post. I’d be interested to hear if anyone thinks that approach is likely to cause problems.
An alternative way would be to create a new address LISTNAME-archive@hostname which would just queue the message in the in queue with an abbreviated pipeline consisting perhaps of just Moderate (to ensure the sender is authorized to post) and ToArchive.
You would need to create scripts/archive which could be a copy of scripts/owner with a few occurrences of 'owner' changed to 'archive' and the final enqueue changed to something like:
inq.enqueue(sys.stdin.read(),
listname=listname,
_plaintext=1,
pipeline=['Moderate', 'ToArchive'],
toarchive=1)The toarchive=1 in the metadata is meaningless, but it would allow different treatment in any handler in the pipeline.
You would also need to modify and recompile src/mail-wrapper.c to add "archive" to the valid commands and add the LISTNAME-archive alias(es) or whatever to the MTA (you could modify Mailman/MTA/Manual.py and/or Mailman/MTA/Postfix.py to generate these).
-- Mark Sapiro <mark@msapiro.net> The highway is for gamblers, San Francisco Bay Area, California better use your sense - B. Dylan
Andrew Stuart writes:
It sounds like there’s no built in way so I’ll probably just modify the source so that a message to BCC results in a silent post.
I find that setting the list to require the list as an explicit addressee is one of the most effective filters for spam that makes it through the MTA's gauntlet. I wouldn't let a *possible* increase in spam stop me, but do check that people aren't spamming your archives, and perhaps strengthen other defenses.
For example, back when my lists still allowed HTML posting, my host got a "cease-and-desist" notice from a MasterCard lawyer. Some miscreant was storing cracked credit card numbers in an HTML comments in messages to the list, and distributing to his "clients" from the Mailman archive. (Of course this is a generic problem, but "silent posting" makes it more dangerous.)
On December 4, 2014 3:38:34 AM PST, Andrew Stuart <andrew.stuart@supercoders.com.au> wrote:
Not by email, but you can use bin/inject to queue the message in the archive queue.
-- Mark Sapiro <mark@msapiro.net> Sent from my Android phone with K-9 Mail. [Unpaid endorsement]
participants (5)
-
Alain Williams -
Andrew Stuart -
Mark Sapiro -
Shannon Doane -
Stephen J. Turnbull