[Spambayes] Spambayes

[bill parducci]

Thomas M. Zang wrote:
> Question:  After I train the database on what is and is not spam, how
> long do I need to retain the messages in the Spam folder?  Can they be
> deleted immediately or should I wait awhile?  Thanks.  BTW this is a
> great plugin!

once a message has been [correctly] trained there is no need to keep it 
around. however, spambayes' accuracy is dependent upon having a 
'sufficient' sample from which to make its decisions. therefore, most 
users retain a fair amount of spam in the event that they may wish to 
rebuild the corpus from scratch.

of course, this begs the question: 'how much is enough?' that is where 
the 'art' of spambayes meets the science :) personally, i keep a couple 
thousand spam--two month's worth--as well as a similar number of ham. 
that is not to say that you won't have excellent results with a tenth 
(or less) of that number; since everyone's e-mail profile is different, 
the requirements for training are as well.

b