[lmi] [Fwd: New subscription request to list lmi from address@hidden

[Greg Chicares]

I was going to send this only to moderators, but decided to send it
to the (searchable) list in case it's of any interest to owners of
other mailing lists.

I've rejected this request, writing
  Does nabble.com prevent relaying spam?
in "Reason for refusal".

This appears to be a gateway like gmane.org . I don't see any reason
to make it harder for anyone to maintain an archive of a public
mailing list--a unidirectional gateway--but they can easily do that,
the way google does. But a bidirectional gateway is another matter
entirely: spammers might use that to send their garbage. If someone
actually reads that rejection and sends a personal reply, I'll
reconsider the matter; but that probably won't happen--I think I'm
talking to a bot, as others have thought:
  http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/gnumed-devel/2005-06/msg00050.html

I'm guessing that the only way to stop unwanted traffic posted
through a gateway would be to ban the gateway itself. I don't care
much whether I've guessed wrong: the burden of proof is not on me.

A gateway is advantageous for mailing lists with support problems.
Consider the MinGW mailing list: the databases and software behind
it often don't work well. I've advised MinGW users to search at
gmane.org when the sf.net facility isn't working correctly. But we
don't have any such problem: google for the unlikely phrase
  "treat 'unisex' as a degenerate axis"
with quotes exactly as given, and you'll see. So I don't know what
we have to gain from any gateway.

I have other reservations:

 - sf.net used to run geocrawler.com; then they dropped it,
   leaving zillions of unreachable links in google

 - gateways tend to append paid advertising at the bottom of
   forwarded messages, and I don't see why we should permit them
   to use our bandwidth that way--post a sign on your own lawn
   if you like, but not on mine

 - gateways tend to promote anonymity, which can be valuable in
   contexts where privacy is important; but responsible postings
   to technical lists usually give real names (even if the email
   address is not disclosed)--and nyms are often deliberately
   offensive (though I'd listen to any individual who presented
   a plausible reason for wanting privacy on this list)

"He who wants to keep his garden tidy doesn't reserve a plot for weeds."
  --Dag Hammarskjöld

"Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one."
  --Abbott Joseph Liebling

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: New subscription request to list lmi from address@hidden
Date: Wed, 19 Oct 2005 16:33:56 -0400
From: address@hidden
To: address@hidden

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