[Mailman-Users] How to make Mailman more trusting of subscriber supplied addresses?

Chris Fox C.Fox at gold.ac.uk
Tue Dec 14 13:03:45 CET 1999


I am experimenting with Mailman (v1.1) with a view to using it to support a 
distance learning scheme, and would like to know if there is a way of making 
Mailman more trusting of From: (and Reply-to:) headers on closed lists.

As far as I can tell, Mailman appears to confirm a subscriber's identity using 
the return-path of mail, not the envelope From, From: or Reply-to fields, even 
if the subscribed address is different from the return path.  Even when I set 
USE_ENVELOPE_SENDER = 0, and pipe mail through formail to rewrite envelope 
>From so that it is the same as From: (or Reply-to:), subscribers submissions 
to mailing lists are not automatically accepted if their subscribed address is 
not username at host.domain, or username at domain as reported in the return-path.

I can understand that there are many cases when it is appropriate to be 
pedantic about confirming a subscribers identity, but it would be nice to be 
able to make Mailman more trusting, so that users can subscribe with their 
preferred email address and be sure that their submissions will be accepted.  
As it stands, many of our legitimate users would have their submissions 
bounced to list maintainers as a matter of course, leading to an unnecessary 
increase in workload.  Alternatively, subscribers would need multiple nomail 
subscriptions, which is cumbersome solution, and hard to explain to non-expert 
users (who will be paying for the service...), again leading to an unnecessary 
increase in workload for our staff.

Any help would be appreciated.

Chris Fox


-- 
Dr. Chris Fox   <C.Fox at gold.ac.uk>    Tel/Fax: +44(0)20 7919 7856/7853
Mathematical & Computing Sciences, Goldsmiths College, London SE14 6NW
Pager: 01523 162 097            URL:http://homepages.gold.ac.uk/chris/
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