[Mailman-Users] Automatic subscription based on e-mail subject

[Chip Davis]

On 2/1/2019 3:30 AM, R. Diez via Mailman-Users wrote:
> 
> This is becoming tiresome...

Indeed.  Except I'd substitute the second-person pronoun for the third...

> Mailman has a long page with settings like digest mode, stop delivery 
> (holiday mode), and many, many more. Other communication platforms 
> like Google Group allow you to manage subscriptions per topic. How 
> about some new settings like this:
> 
> [ x ]  Automatically follow topics/subjects/threads I have 
> participated in.

What you are asking for is not impossible but it is not a SMOP.  It 
will require a significant effort on the part of volunteer developers 
and result in a significant increase in the size of the package, with 
a concomitant increase in volunteer support and administration effort.

>> And, as has been pointed out previously in this discussion, there is a
>> difference between mailing lists and web forums or bulletin boards...
> 
> There is no such difference. It is all in your head. 

You have been provided several patient, thoughtful, and perfectly 
clear explanations that there _is_ a difference between a listserver 
and a forum/BB, starting with the distinction between a "push" 
interface and a "pull" one.

> There are 
> communication platforms that have both interfaces, e-mail and web.

Yes, but they are not as lithe or lissome as Mailman, and more 
difficult to administer.

> Other systems can do it. I understand that you do not want to 
> implement it yourself in Mailman, but why oppose the idea?

One word: spork.

There are plenty of web forum offerings, many free, that have some 
sort of email access, usually as an afterthought.  As such, they are 
the software equivalent of a spoon into which someone cut notches, 
making it a lousy fork and a poor spoon.

I, for one, have no time to waste logging into dozens of fora looking 
for postings of interest.  Such postings are emailed to me, in the 
same way that notes to all of my email accounts are.  My MUA does the 
spam-filtering, searching, sorting, filing, display, and composition 
functions.  I need only that one (programmable) tool to handle all my 
inputs.

-Chip-