Spam avoidance

[Tim Peters]

[Douglas Alan]
>> I've noticed that there is little to no spam in comp.lang.python
>> and am wondering how this is accomplished.

[Skip Montanaro]
> Most mailing lists which originate on mail.python.org have SpamBayes
> filtering in front of them.

Worth noting that the SpamBayes project started specifically because
Barry Warsaw tricked me ;-) into thinking about a way to do spam
filitering for GNU Mailman lists.  My original "ham" test data was in
fact a year's worth of comp.lang.python postings.  The algorithms work
extremely well for a focused tech mailing list (I don't know how they
work on other kinds of lists, because those weren't tested).

BTW, python.org uses other gimmicks too, right?  For example, I think
Greg Ward set up some other gimmicks to weed out obvious viruses.

> The one notable exception are the two SpamBayes-related mailing
> lists.

Yup, and they do get their fair share of spam.