Re: [Groff] groff mailman problems

[jim]

>>>>> "Ted" == (Ted Harding) <address@hidden> writes:

    Ted> So -- and I don't like appearing to be paranoid -- I am
    Ted> beginning to wonder more stribgly than before whether there
    Ted> is a deliberate attempt on the part of someone out there to
    Ted> sabotage either the groff list or some of its members. Or to
    Ted> sabotage groff itself.

I can understand why you might feel that way. Especially since your
email address is on much of the virus/spam crap that ends up on the
list. This must be annoying and frustrating. However it's stretching
things to suggest there might be a conspiracy at work. For starters,
who stands to gain if groff or the mailing list gets sabotaged? It
can't be the TeX people: Knuth stopped using email years ago. :-)

There's a much simpler explanation. Spambots and email worms/viruses
harvest addresses from mailing lists and newsgroups. So people who
post more frequently tend to be targetted. There's usually no Grand
Design at work. As a general rule spammers are too stupid to be that
discriminating. Though some make an exception when it comes to
attacking those who provide anti-spam defences.

For the groff list, these difficulties are compounded by the poor
anti-spam measures in place on the mail server. Most of the crap that
gets sent has a distinctive signature that should be easily identified
and filtered out. Since this is beyond what ffii.org can offer, we
have to put up with the unwanted traffic until the list can get moved
somewhere else. Sigh. We wouldn't be having this conversation -- or
any spam on the list -- if the mail server used something like
SpamAssassin. That would also put an end to your conspiracy theories.