Although I agree that setting up a mailing list is not a trivial task,
the point I was trying to make about Majordomo (I have no idea whether
this applies to other packages) is that the installation is tricky and
difficult to debug with specific reference to ownership and permissions.
I feel that these problems could be solved by using a better
configuration method and improved documentation.
For example, in January I set up a mailing last that was very active,
which is how I learned about the permission problems with lock files.
I was deluged with angry mail and had to go the world-writable directory
route because I couldn't keep making people upset while I experimented.
More recently I screwed up while trying to implement digests and ended
up just cancelling the digest feature after sending out apologies to the
lists affected.
The big problem with mailing lists is that if you try to learn on the
job, you affect many other users. This makes it valuable to have very
explicit documentation and, if possible, a configuration program for the
installation.
Of course I realize that Majordomo is free and I am grateful to those
who write and support it. This is not intended to be a flame, but I
think it is worth pointing out that there are difficulties that are
quite distinct from the general problems of managing mailing lists.
Bill Silvert
> I agree with Bill when he states that setup of MajorDomo would
>be difficult for anyone who is not familiar with mailers, but the setup
>of anything to do with mail would naturally be so. It would not be a
>factor of Majordomo or LISTSERV, or any other list service program.
> ...
>I am worried by the fact that someone would "throw up one's hands and
>make a lot of files and directories world writable" ...
> ...
>[this list] has some of the most helpful
>and willing people that I have seen. I am not sure that any question
>has gone unanswered, and even some of the toughest questions have been
>carried out to their successful resolution, no matter how long it took.
--
Bill Silvert at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography
P. O. Box 1006, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, CANADA B2Y 4A2
InterNet Address: silvert@biome.bio.ns.ca
(the address bill@biome.bio.ns.ca is only for mailing lists)
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