Re: [cobalt-users] Re:Listserv Software for Raq3

[Brent Sims <bs@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Sat, 15 Sep 2001, Jeff Lasman wrote:

} May I ask, Brent, do you employ web-based archives?  If so, what do you
} use?  We've got to install it for some customers.

Hi Jeff,

	We do. That's the beauty of Mailman. It does them for us.
Just click the appropriate box and you've got web-based archives
which are updated on the schedule selected by list owner. The
archives are even downloadable. They can also even be password
protected so only list members can access them, or hidden from Wold
entirely. Other than personalize the messages, I've yet to have
anyone ask for something it can't do.

	We've only got a couple of publically accessable lists (they
can be private or public) but feel free to take a peek. This is a
default, unmodified, install:

http://www.webokay.com/mailman/listinfo

	Most of the lists we host are private but, WeeklyDvar for
example, which you'll find on that page is 16,000 members plus.
The archives are online too. Our-family is our (the Sims') private
chat list. The archives are online but they're password protected,
which is a pretty cool option. We host a private sports list for
an outfit in the UK which I've seen spew 18mb and more of traffic
per day for weeks on end during the football season without a hitch
and without saturating our connection with huge bursts of traffic.

	We did, however, learn the hard way that sendmail needs some
tweaking, from time-to-time, in order to handle some problems that
may result with large lists. If you are going to be doing some
serious email list hosting I'd suggest having a copy of the Bat book
handy...

	Most of the problems users complain about regarding this
list are not, IMO, actually Mailman's fault even though it's usually
blamed. Thus I don't recomend making a decision based upon your
experiences on this list. It's not perfect though. Stale lock files,
for example, can cause some problems and figuring that the stale
lock files are the cause was not an easy task but, other than that,
Mailman just buzzes right along here.

	We think it's the cat's meow.

	Peace be with you,

	Brent Sims
	WebOkay Internet Services, LLC
	http://www.WebOkay.net
	mailto: Brent@xxxxxxxxxxx
	(719) 595-1427 (Voice/Fax)