Newsgroups and mailing lists (was Re: Slightly OT: Why all the spam?)

[Aahz]

In article <mailman.8033.1179849013.32031.python-list at python.org>,
Michael L Torrie  <torriem at chem.byu.edu> wrote:
>
>It appears that people using nntp to read this list aren't seeing the
>spam because the moderators expire the messages as they find them.

Allow this creaky and cranky old-timer to correct what you're trying to
write:

First of all, if you're accessing python-list as comp.lang.python, you're
accessing a newsgroup, *not* a mailing list.  Secondly, c.l.py is an
unmoderated group; there is no moderator and no control over who posts.
However, netnews (Usenet) has a mechanism for cancelling articles, and
cancelbots send out cancel messages for spam articles.

(Expiring is a completely different mechanism from cancelling; you may
be thinking of superceding  -- yes, that's how the header is spelled,
deal with it -- which uses the cancel mechanism to replace one article
with a supposedly-better version.)

These days, because of the cancelbot wars, many news servers do not honor
cancels, so the extent to which you see spam in c.l.py depends partly on
whether your server does honor cancels.  Also, because of the nature of
netnews distribution, you may still see spam even if your server does
honor cancels because the cancel message takes too long to arrive.
-- 
Aahz (aahz at pythoncraft.com)           <*>         http://www.pythoncraft.com/

"Look, it's your affair if you want to play with five people, but don't
go calling it doubles."  --John Cleese anticipates Usenet