Re: New list, what about lukers?

[Tim Conkling <tconkling@...>]

on 5/11/03 6:08 PM, Pedro at miller@domain.com.br reportedly stated:

> On Sunday 11 May 2003 12:48, John Labenski wrote:
>> "To see the collection of prior postings to the list, visit the Lua
>> Archives. (The current archive is only available to the list members.)"
>>                                    ^^^^ Why?
> 
> In principle I'd agree, of course. But I suppose there's the matter of
> automated email-collecting bots used by spammers and the like. This way, the
> admins are protecting our mailboxes.
> 
> This being the case, of course, I do agree that there should be a way of not
> getting emails. I wonder whether Mailman can do that.

The way the Apple mailing lists handle this issue is by password-protecting
the archives and providing the password clearly on the page. This way,
humans can easily search the archives (regardless of whether they're
subscribed to the list) and email-harvester bots cannot. I guess I can't
speak to exactly how well the system works except to say that I've never
heard anyone complain about it, and I have never experienced an unusual
increase in spam after subscribing/posting to one of the Apple lists.

http://search.lists.apple.com/

is where all the list archives are located. When you search a list you are
prompted for a password and given the correct password to use at the same
time. Easy.

Tim
-- 
Tim Conkling
tconkling@brown.edu