[Mailman-Developers] password-less unsubscribe

[Tomas Fasth]

Greg Stein wrote:

> That's a possibility, but for this list... remember: they're idiots.

I wonder how did they get on the list in the first place if they are
such morons?

Can this be a situation were users are added to a list against their
will and then get angry because they can not get off the list fast
enough? If so, tough luck, it's the list owner's own fault. The list
owner should be responsible to remove the subscribers by his/her own
hand. My personal opinion is that the design of Mailman as well as other
list managing software should not promote unsolicited
subscription/unsubscription.

> If they were accidentally/maliciously unsubscribed, then they can always
> resubscribe.

That is what a list owner usually want to avoid. Unnecessary exposure to
accidental/malicious subscription/unsubscription is not an option, in my
humble opinion. It only adds to the level of irritation and work load.

> Really... how often does somebody maliciously unsubscribe somebody? I
> have to imagine it is quite rare. I'd rather take the safe side and let
> them get off the list as easy as possible.

Sure, it's rare because there are measures taken against it. The only
"safe" side is to require subscribers to follow a procedure that oppress
malicious behavior.

> I'd actually prefer a confirmation-less subscription, too, and have
> something in the subscribe acknowledgement say "if you were subscribed
> in error, then hit <this> URL to unsubscribe"

I don't share your opinion. As a Mailman administrator, I'm glad the
confirmation mechanism is there as a small but effective safety
precaution. Besides, if the world is full of idiots like you describe,
that kind of acknowledgement would not do much help.

Tomas