[Mailman-Developers] Author_is_list option in upcoming mailman 2.1.16

[Franck Martin]

In the upcoming mailman 2.1.16 there has been the introduction of the optional feature author_is_list

"Replace the sender with the list address to conform with policies like ADSP and DMARC. It replaces the poster's address in the From: header with the list address and adds the poster to the Reply-To: header, but the anonymous_list and Reply-To: header munging settings below take priority. If setting this to Yes, it is advised to set the MTA to DKIM sign all emails. "

Usage of this feature on lists have indicated no adverse issue for the members, provided proper communication is done when the feature is enabled (as to allow inbox rules to be changed if needed).

In the 2.1.16 Release Candidate the feature author_is_list is controlled by the following switches in the mm_cfg.py

ALLOW_AUTHOR_IS_LIST = No
DEFAULT_AUTHOR_IS_LIST = No

The first one will enable the GUI to present an option to the list admin to enable the author_is_list feature, the second controls if new lists or upgraded lists should have the author_is_list feature set to yes

While it is better for the MTA to DKIM sign emails if author_is_list is enabled, this is not a requirement and the list will work fine without DKIM.

While DEFAULT_AUTHOR_IS_LIST is important to avoid new lists and upgraded lists change behavior, setting ALLOW_AUTHOR_IS_LIST to Yes does not change how any list is handled (author_is_list in the GUI is No by default). it only provides an option to the list admin to change the list behavior.

Unfortunately some list admins cannot edit mm_cfg.py (like CPANEL type install), therefore it would be nice to remove ALLOW_AUTHOR_IS_LIST or set it to Yes by default to let the list admin decide how he/she wants the list to behave. Otherwise the list admin needs to contact the mailman admin to enable this config.

Please indicates if you are ok to set ALLOW_AUTHOR_IS_LIST to Yes or remove this option from mm_cfg.py

Note: a few organizations have indicated they will provide the necessary translation of this feature in the GUI for the most common languages.