[Mailman-Users] A Vote Against Passwords

[Chuck Dale]

Wrote Dan Mick on Tue, Aug 01, 2000 at 01:39:35PM -0700:
> 
> Chuck Dale wrote:
> > 
> > For What It's Worth:
> > 
> >     I vote to have the password facilities in Mailman toned down. I
> >     would like them removed but at least to make this optional.
> > 
> >     And definitely to make the "Send Password Reminders Every Month"
> >     option default to OFF.
> > 
> >     I say this after another month of receiving more than 10 separate
> >     password reminders. And mailman lists only account for about 1/3 of
> >     the lists I am on!
> > 
> >     All the other mailing list managers seem to do without it so why
> >     waste time with it.
> 
> If you're going to require passwords (as Mailman does), it seems critical
> to me that the reminder remain "on", as "I lost my password because
> I can't follow welcome message instructions" is *the* number 1 complaint
> of my list users.
> 
> If, and only if, there's ever a way to run a list without passwords,
> then obviously the reminder should be turned off, since it's then 
> meaningless.

I find the reminder meaningless anyway. A reminder that comes once a
month is a reminder that gets deleted or forgotten by most people.
Particularly with the lists I am maintaining (definitely non-technically
minded people), this password reminder just adds to the confusion. A lot
of people do not file their mail.

Myself I never bother saving password requests because often I am on and
off a list within the month anyway and if I'm on it for more than a
month I'm there to stay.

Chuck

               [ charles hamilton dale <bug at aphid.net> ]