[Mailman-Users] Is Mailman right for my needs?

[Stonewall Ballard]

On 11/27/02 4:47 PM, "Sherry Berne Wallack" <swallack at optonline.net> wrote:

> Hello Mailman users.
> 
> I am a Mac G3 user running OS 9.2.2 and Outlook Express which is too limited
> for my needs, as follows.
> Can anyone tell me if this is right for me?  Hostway is hosting my domain
> name and email accounts.
> 
> Thank you,
> Sherry
> 
> FIRST, DOES MAILMAN RUN ON OS9.2...or just OSX?

Not Mac OS 9. It does on on OS X, as well as many Unix and Windows systems.

> 1. I have a graphics rich .html email (no flash-nothing active) residing on
> my hard drive. I want to import it into the email box.
> Can be done with Mailman, easily? If it helps, I could place it on the
> server.

All Mailman does is redistribute email messages. It can add headers and
footers to them, but the content of the message is determined by the sender.
If you can create an email message that looks like your .html file, then
you're ok. Check your email client documentation to see how to do this.

> 2. I'd like to be able to add a personal message above this graphic, like:
> Dear John, It was nice to meet you at the trade show. Here is my info below.
> Sincerely.....

Mailman can add headers and footers, but they aren't like mail merge form
letters. They also look a little strange with html email because they are
separate mime sections.

You should look elsewhere to do what you want.

> 3. I must be able to send to a group, as BCC: or other means so no one sees
> other names.

Mailman never exposes other recipients' addresses to each other.

> 4. Maximum file size to send and receive?

That's settable. May be limited by your mail server.

> 5. Can I import a database of names and addresses into Mailman from another
> program and export the Mailman database to others?

There are scripts that will create lists of subscribers, and which will add
subscribers.

> Which others will work with Mailman? Outlook? Palm? Excel?  Currently, my
> lists only exist in Excel, as .csv files. It would be nice to make sales
> notes in these lists which I am using for prospecting.

You (or someone) would have to write a script to convert these into a simple
list of text addresses that could be fed to one of Mailman's scripts.

> 6. What is the latest version and upgrades that I will need, of Mailman, for
> my system?

Visit the Mailman page at <http://mailman.sourceforge.net/> for this info.

> 7. Can I ever speak with a tech support person at Mailman? Is there paid
> support?

Mailman is an open-source project. People on this mailing list will help as
their time allows. Some will install a Mailman system and maintain it for
you for a fee.

I get the impression from your questions that Mailman isn't right for you. I
can't suggest anything specific that would work better, though, but I'm sure
they're out there.

 - Stoney