[Mailman-Users] password management

[Brad Knowles]

At 8:21 PM +0100 10/17/06, Alain Williams wrote:

>  * that mailman passwords are locked away in python pickles .. this
>  makes them difficult to access/maintain through scripts written in
>  other languages.

There's a variety of reasons why passwords are being eliminated from 
future versions of Mailman.  This is another good one.

However, you shouldn't need to access the passwords from other 
languages -- if the users have forgotten their password, they can 
always have a new one generated and then sent out to them by e-mail.

>  * if you are subscribed to several lists, then you have a different password
>   for each list, or you need to change each of them every time that
>   you change.

Not necessarily.  If they use the same e-mail address, they can log 
into their user page with the address and password for one list, then 
globally change their password for all lists.  It's a more complex 
process, but it does work.

Of course, we recognize that it's a more complex process and probably 
too much to expect for most users, which is part of why passwords are 
being eliminated.

>  No: they are not meant to he high security, but it would be nice to
>  use the same one as with various other services on the same box.

Mailman was not designed to integrate with other services on the same 
box.  However, if you program in Python, it's not hard to access the 
same pickles in other packages.  But that's more of a Python 
programming thing, not a Mailman thing.


If you'd like to have better integration between Mailman and other 
services on the same box, we would welcome your patches.  Please feel 
free to upload those via the SourceForge patch tracker for Mailman at 
<http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=103&atid=300103>.

Otherwise, please feel free to file your Request for Enhancement on 
the SourceForge RFE tracker for Mailman at 
<http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=103&atid=350103>, or via 
the Mailman wiki at <http://wiki.list.org/>.


We are working on this issue, but it's a slow process.  Among other 
things, there are a virtually infinite variety of other potential 
services you might want to integrate with.

-- 
Brad Knowles, <brad at shub-internet.org>

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