[Mailman-Users] Digest mode bug in 2.1b2

[Peter Bengtson]

> For your specific question, this is not a bug, Mailman is not just
> another out of the box, ready to go, software; there are many ways
> to customize it, but you have failed complete your customization. 

I must say that your answer is a bit surprising. Mailman offers an
enormous wealth of features that are intended to ease the task of
customisation or make customisation unnecessary. I am aware of the HTML
templates and have modified them - yet, it is still possible to switch
on digest mode through e-mail commands. Moreover, the templates have to
be re-edited each time a new Mailman version appears.

> Although a few of your subscribers may send a help command to
> the robot, and receive the command list, if you include the notice,
> and they send a digest command anyway, then it's their fault for 
> not reading your new custonized documentation. 

Clearly, if it is possible to switch on a feature no matter what the
administrator selects in the configuration sections, and the feature
produces unwanted behaviour - in this case, the total suppression of all
mail, *without* the subscriber or the administrator ever getting to know
about it, then it is clearly and obviously a bug. Particularly as it is
completely impossible for the administrator to find out which subscriber
is affected, but has to go through each and every one. 

Mailman is fantastic, and superior to all other mailing list software
I've seen - I love it to bits - but in this respect it falls down
miserably. Please: trying to pass this obvious bug off as an
uncustomised list configuration issue is a bit ... well, you know.
Especially since configuring the HTML pages (safety by obscurity) still
allows the user to select digest mode by e-mail.

As a software engineer I know that chanches are about 95% that this bug
is easy to fix. 

	/ Peter Bengtson