[cobalt-users] [RAQ3] List server questions

[the webthing <webthing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

(Note to OTT:  This is why we are stuck on Topica for now.)

Go on, groan.  I would.  It's another damn newbie with loads of
questions that are probably covered in the archives.

Well, let me start from the beginning.  (If you don't want to read the
whole, sorry tale of how I wound up here, skip on down to
THE QUESTIONS.)

Three months ago I approached DialtoneInternet about a dedicated server.
I got lumbered with some idiot who decided that telling me to go
elsewhere was a lot easier than working out how I was to get a signed
form to her without a fax machine.  (Hey, I'm from England.  I'd never
heard of Kinko's.)

Verdict:  Poor attitude.

Next stop, Servint.  They were all over themselves trying to get me to
sign up with them.  The server arrived late and never worked properly. 
I eventually got their sales director to admit to me, after I'd proved
to him that there really was a problem, ("Hey, there are two copies of
this mail configuration file!") that some of his NOC staff knew just
enough to be dangerous.

Verdict:  They tried really hard, but lacked skill.

Then we try HighspeedWeb.  I'd learned my lesson by now, so I insisted
on speaking to someone with some technical knowledge, rather than some
salesman who knows no more about computers than the keyboard and monitor.
I got their chief tech, who assured me that they really could deliver, on
time, a fully working server.  Complete with a load of stuff that made
it look almost too good to be true.  Strike almost.  The ad said
majordomo, the server arrived late with ezmlm.  Something about
majordomo won't work with qmail.  Apparently they'd never heard of using
a computer to find the patch to make it work.  I found it.  Anyway,
ezmlm didn't work.  They admitted this to me after I spent a week trying
to find out what the hell I was doing wrong.  They broke it with their
gui, and were working on a patch.  Meanwhile, they were not willing to
put majordomo on so that I would have the list server that they
advertised. One of the major reasons I need a server.  We are still
waiting for our money back.

Verdict:  Atrocious attitude backed by lies, damned lies and
incompetence.

Just the other day WebFusion, a company I've been doing business with
for a long time, made me an offer on a RAQ3 that I couldn't refuse.  I
noted that majordomo was mentioned in the description, so I asked for
verification that it was indeed so.  "I'm sorry," I was told, "but I
cannot be certain that the list manager is majordomo.  Do you still want
the server?"  You see why I like this company?  They have always tried
to help me when I needed it, and have never lied to me.

Verdict:  9 out of 10.  Wish they were in the same country as my
clients.

Okay, so I now have to find out just exactly what is in a RAQ3.  So,
turn to Cobalt.  Hey, there's a demo here, let's have a look. 
Wadaminnit, who stole all the functionality?  If in doubt, talk to a
real, live human being.  Cobalt tech support should know.

"Hello.  Is it really majordomo?"
"I don't know.  Will you hold, please?"
dum de dum de dum
"Yes, I've been told that it really is majordomo."
"Then where are all the features?"
"Like what?"
"Well, like the ability to set up announcement lists, and moderated
lists, and to set welcome messages, and, well, all the stuff that a
normal list server has."
"I don't know.  Will you hold, please?"
dum de dum de dum
"Yes, I've been told that all the features are there."
"Where?"
"I don't know.  Will you hold, please?"
dum de dum de dum
"In the management interface.  You can do everything there."

This was Friday afternoon, I was on my way out the door.  Cobalt don't
work at the weekend, and we all know what I found when I had another
look at the demo, don't we, boys and girls.  That's right, it was still
crippledomo.  Just like it had been before I talked to support.

Since then I've been pouring through the archives (8000 messages; I
downloaded them all) until my head is spinning.


THE QUESTIONS

1) Is it fully featured majordomo?

2) Is there another front end for majordomo that's been tried on a RAQ,
since the server holding MajorCool has been unavailable for two months?

3) If not, is majordomo easy to learn?  I've only used it with MC.

4) Does anyone have any experience with webmin on a RAQ?  This has a
passable front end for majordomo, although it's no MajorCool.  It also
has a few other useful bits, like a file manager.  I've not been able to
find a file manager on the RAQ.

This question was asked a while back; I never found the answer:
5) What are the pros and cons of mailman over majordomo?  Apart from the
front end, which is a good point, but I do want a good server and not
just a good interface.


Answers to even one or two of the above questions might help me to
decide whether I can use a RAQ.  I do like it, it seems to have
everything I require.  Or it will have, once I get Python on it.  And
PHP if it's not already.  And a list server.  Let's not forget the list
server.

Thank you.


Trust me, I'm a doctor
Catweasel <webthing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
http://www.catweasel.org/
http://www.enchantedspirit.com/

Some days it's not worth chewing through the restraints.