[Mailman-Users] Re: cleartext passwords

[Chuq Von Rospach]

At 11:27 AM -0400 10/2/00, Tom Neff wrote:
>I do NOT think that cleartext passwords should be mailed out en masse as
>part of a monthly reminder cycle.  That is, over time, going to degrade
>security and user confidence in the product.
>
>Passwords should only be sent in response to an explicit user request.

I think you're right, Tom. This seems like a good idea.

>The monthly reminder (which is a trifle annoying - I now get a flock of them
>every first on the month) should,
>

Over the years, I've done a lot of experimenting with these admin 
messages. Frankly, I don't think there *is* a good way of dealing 
with this, including not doing it at all.

What I'd like to see Mailman do is a monthly posting, per list, not 
per server. that would allow us to define custom text for each list 
to be included, so it is turned back into a "information about this 
list" message, not just a "here are your subscription" message -- it 
really needs to be both. And if we add the functionality to allow the 
date it's sent out configured per-list, admins can spread it out so 
that we aren't as inundated on the 1st.

I've been running my lists iwthout any regular posting for the last 
couple of years, instead relying on list information in the footer. 
That actually works pretty well, but it has some weaknesses. The 
biggest weakness is that for a low-volume list, users tend to forget 
they're on it, and that leads to problems when a list does waver back 
to life ("who the hell are you and why are you in my mailbox? Oh, 
yeah, I forgot! Well, get me off!"), and worse, as people forget 
they're on a list, they don't think to use it, so lists that fade 
tend to fade faster and are harder to bring back to life. The monthyl 
posting, as least, encourges folks to remember the list, and I think 
encourages its use -- a good thing, IMHO.

So I'm going back to using monthly listings, but I plan on looking 
into tweaking the message to do a few things differently than Mailman 
currently does.

-- 
Chuq Von Rospach - Plaidworks Consulting (mailto:chuqui at plaidworks.com)
Apple Mail List Gnome (mailto:chuq at apple.com)

You seem a decent fellow. I hate to die.