RE: [cobalt-users] Mail List Management (majordomo): How do I...

["Dee Dreslough" <dee@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

>I would like to do a mailing to a couple hundred recipients.  But I don't
>want those recipients to be able to send emails to the list ­ which in turn
>would send their email to all addresses on the list.  However, I do want
>them to be able to unsubscribe from the list.  Is this possible?

Sure! You can do this with the configuration script settings for your list.

You make the list via the GUI just like you'd expect. Then, the GUI creates
a file called <yourlist>.config in a folder
/usr/local/majordomo/www.yoursite.com/lists.  You can edit that file with
Pico.

For example, I have a list called Site-updates. I edit Site-updates.config
to set up my list to be just like you described. Only I can post (or a list
of approved emails), but anyone can unsubscribe.

	# moderate             [bool] (no) <resend>
	# If yes, all postings to the list  must be approved by the
	# moderator.
		moderate            =   no

	# restrict_post        [restrict_post] (site-updates) <resend>
	# If defined, only addresses listed in these files (colon or space
	# separated) can post to the mailing list. By default, these files
	# are relative to the lists directory. These files are also checked
	# when get_access, index_access, info_access, intro_access,
	# which_access, or who_access is set to 'list'. This is less useful
	# than it seems it should be since there is no way to create these
	# files if you do not have access to the machine running resend.
	# This mechanism will be replaced in a future version of
	# majordomo/resend.
		restrict_post = deeowner
			(See below for an example of what deeowner looks like)
	# unsubscribe_policy   [enum] (closed) <majordomo> /open;closed;auto/
	# One of three values: open, closed, auto.  Open allows people to
	# unsubscribe themselves from the list. Auto allows anybody to
	# unsubscribe anybody to the list without maintainer approval. The
	# existence of the file <listname>.auto is the same as specifying
	# the value auto.  Closed requires maintainer approval for all
	# unsubscribe requests to the list. In addition to the keyword, if
	# the file <listname>.closed exists, it is the same as specifying
	# the value closed. The value of this keyword overrides the value
	# supplied by any existent files.
		unsubscribe_policy = auto

I created another text file in the /lists/ directory called deeowner with
the emails of anyone I want to give permission to post inside:

dee@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
dee@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
(etc)

If the return email doesn't match someone in this list, the message doesn't
go out.  Of course, someone could concievably spoof my return address and
send something, but I've never had that happen so far, and my list is an
announcement list for about 100 people or so too, just like yours.

The only caveat for this method is that if you later use the GUI to create
another mailing list, it will see the file 'deeowner' (in my case) and
create a list called deeowner in the GUI display...which is just
annoying/confusing and not really harmful.

Reading through the .config file is really enlightening for how Majordomo
can be configured, btw...and I also recommend O'Reilly's 'Woodpecker book'
_Managing Mailing Lists_.  It covers other popular lists, so you can make an
informed decision about continuing to use Majordomo or switching to another
package.  It also goes over mailing list manager packages for the four major
mailing list systems.

I hope this helps!

-Dee Dreslough
RaQ3 Journeywoman (was Newbie, but I may have graduated... :) )