Thanks for the response -- some comments interspersed below: On Thursday, October 25, 2018 04:45:03 PM Reco wrote: > On Thu, Oct 25, 2018 at 03:57:32PM -0400, rhkra...@gmail.com wrote: > > Sometimes things just stick in my head until I do something to get them > > out -- sorry. ;-) > > That's OK. Listening all those voices in the head - that's really > disturbing ;) > > > I am 100% sure I can create mailing list software that does not need an > > MTA. If this post gets to the list, that is proof -- read on if you > > wish. (Of course, someone might argue that I've created an MTA, and, > > maybe, in some sense, I have, but I have avoided the need to set up a > > "real" MTA which has always proved a very frustrating task for me.)
I guess I should have said: "does not need a local MTA, i.e., one on my machine". > > Received: from mail-oi1-x22b.google.com (mail-oi1-x22b.google.com > [IPv6:2607:f8b0:4864:20::22b]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher > ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 (128/128 bits)) (Client CN "smtp.gmail.com", > Issuer "Google Internet Authority G3" (not verified)) by bendel.debian.org > (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 647D0264 for <debian-user@lists.debian.org>; Thu, > 25 Oct 2018 20:26:40 +0000 (UTC) > > It says here what you've used Google's MTA. > It even has correct DKIM signature, and that's something that means you > haven't forged the headers. That's interesting, because I have at least somewhat modified the headers. But, that may explain why the first attempt didn't make it to the list, maybe I changed the headers too much. > > Also, as this is a proof of concept rather than a polished finished > > thing, I've done a lot of steps by hand and have not included all the > > safety checks (e.g., avoiding mail loops, which I'd have to learn how to > > do) that I would expect in a polished product. > > So, to rephrase - you can create a maillist that does not need your MTA. Yes, that is what I was after. > As long as you accept the risks - like, for instance, instant > termination of your maillist at Google's leasure - it will probably > work. Yes, but I'm sure I could do it as well with any other MTA, like my ISP's MTA -- in fact, I'm sort of surprised why it doesn't appear that I used my ISP's MTA, but I must have. I may have to think about that, someday. > > Basically, instead of setting up an MTA, I've used my "windows style" > > email client (kamil -- an MUA, aiui) to do what is, to me, the heavy > > lifting. > > > > A "real" mail list program (or "suite" of programs) using this approach would work something like this: > > * a filter in kmail would watch for emails / posts directed to the > > mailing list, and would put those in a special folder (probably named > > with the name of the mailing list and maybe some prefix or postfix > > (not the program ;-) > > > * a program (possibly a bash script) would watch that folder (check it periodically), and when a file is found: > They invented inotify(7) for that 10 years ago. Install incron. Yeah, thanks, I forget about things like that too often anymore. ;-( > > > * move it to a work location (removing it from the original folder) > > > > * process it in various ways using tools like awk, sed, or similar to do things like: > > * optionally check the list of subscribers to make sure it came > > from a subscriber (unless I want to treat it as an open mail > > list) -- if from a non-subscriber (or a banned user / spammer), > > optionally send a rejection message (I found in my > > "administration" of some yahoo groups, that it often worked > > better not to send a rejection message to a known spammer -- if > > you send a message, they often try to subscribe (or > > resubscribe) and then resend the spam -- if you don't send a > > message, they often seem to assume that there is no problem, > > never realizing that their messages weren't getting to the > > list) > > SpamAssassin, anyone? I don't know if I could invoke SpamAssassin on yahoo's mail lists (but, of course, I could invoke it on any thing I run or build locally). > > > * optionally call it to the attention of the owner of the list > > (or of the computer it is running on) if the list (or this > > user) is to be moderated * change some of the message headers > > as appropriate (including generating a new unique messageID > > (maybe using `date +%s.%N' and some text string reflecting the > > name of the mailing list > > formail from procmail or reformail from maildrop. > And changing existing Message-ID header is a really bad idea. Well, I wasn't sure how mail lists normally handle that -- clearly the message has a MessageId when sent from the subscriber -- I would have guessed the mail list would use a different MessageID when forwarding it (sending it) to other subscribers, especially recognizing that the text and such do get some changes. > > > * perhaps add things like a new header and footer to the text of > > the message (like the name of the maillist or group, a MOTD, > > how to unsubscribe, ...) > > Good luck reassembling all those base64/uuencoded e-mails. > Even single Unicode smiley like this ☺ will lead to funny results. Hmm, I'll have to think about that, also (or try it out), but, for now, I'm done.
