[Mailman-Users] Using mailman for one-time use special demographic lists...

[Brad Knowles]

At 12:48 PM -0500 2005-12-21, Bill.Costa at unh.edu wrote:

>  Now as a point of comparison, here is how I currently handle the
>  above situation with ListProc:
>
>      I have a standing generic list, configured for one-way
>      announcements, let's call it "UNH.Announce".  I use a Perl
>      script to take the IDs and map them to names/e-mail addresses
>      and use that data to build a flat file subscriber list in the
>      exact format that ListProc builds for itself.  I then run a
>      command that causes ListProc to re-cache the list.  I make the
>      sender the temporary owner of the list (to have exclusive
>      posting permission), post the message as that user, and then
>      flip the ownership back and zero out the list to prevent
>      accidental re-use.

	You could essentially do the same for Mailman, but keep in mind 
that it is written in Python, not Perl.  So, if you want to do all 
your interfacing into mailman in Perl, you're going to have to be 
calling a lot of Python-language programs via the shell interface.

	As I see it, this subject kind of relates back to FAQ 3.18, in 
that you're trying to do something that MLMs were not really designed 
to do, and you should at least take a serious look at using a real 
CRM program instead of trying to kit-bash something together that 
kinda-semi-sorta works, most of the time -- IMO you'll spend more 
time (and therefore money) trying to maintain the jury-rigged 
kit-bash system than money you would spend on getting a real CRM.


	I think Mark has probably given you a couple of other ideas, if 
you're bound and determined to keep trying to force this square peg 
into a round hole.

-- 
Brad Knowles, <brad at stop.mail-abuse.org>

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little
temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

     -- Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), reply of the Pennsylvania
     Assembly to the Governor, November 11, 1755

  LOPSA member since December 2005.  See <http://www.lopsa.org/>.