[ale] [EXTERNAL] Re: Help!! Ale is being abused

[Jim Kinney]

I am hosting ale on a dedicated server in Toronto for $50/mo. I use the other 50% of the system.

On July 12, 2022 7:03:57 PM MST, Allen Beddingfield via Ale <ale at ale.org> wrote:
>I'm not familiar with the hosting setup for the list, but is it a VM
>hosted with a VPS provider?  I've never heard of getting charged for
>complaints like that.  Maybe also time to shop around for another
>hosting provider that doesn't care as much?
>Just a thought.
>Allen B.
>--
>Allen Beddingfield
>Systems Engineer
>Office of Information Technology
>The University of Alabama
>Office 205-348-2251
>allen at ua.edu
>
>________________________________________
>From: Ale <ale-bounces at ale.org> on behalf of Jim Kinney via Ale
><ale at ale.org>
>Sent: Tuesday, July 12, 2022 8:56 PM
>To: Robert Tweedy; Derek Atkins; Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts
>Cc: Jim Kinney
>Subject: [EXTERNAL] Re: [ale] Help!! Ale is being abused
>
>I say disable the addresses in postfix. It is an easily automated way
>to bring the server to it's knees and rack up bad vibes for ale and
>potentially fines from the hosting provider. If someone actually
>complains, we can add them manually or refer them to the web form.
>
>
>
>On July 12, 2022 6:10:58 PM MST, Robert Tweedy
><robert at robert-tweedy.com> wrote:
>I feel like disabling the Mailman "-request" and "-subscribe" addresses
>would have unintended side effects, but it's technically a possibility;
>does anyone more familiar with GNU Mailman know if this is:
>
>1. A bad idea/will severely break core Mailman functions
>(alternatively, how many people will start sending in complaints that
>their emails to "ale-request at ale.org"<mailto:ale-request at ale.org>
>stopped working)?
>2. An option that's available through Mailman's configuration files? Or
>would I need to modify the Postfix aliases to achieve this?
>
>-Robert
>
>On 7/12/22 20:40, Derek Atkins wrote:
>
>Another option is to turn off handling of email-based subscription
>requests and require going through the web interface?
>
>-derek
>
>On Tue, July 12, 2022 8:17 pm, Robert Tweedy via Ale wrote:
>
>
>I've gotten a basic Captcha configured now on Mailman's main sign-up
>pages (which is likely where the issue's coming from), so this will
>hopefully lessen the problem. I'm definitely open to any suggestions
>for
>improvement as well as donations of time to implement a better
>spam-filtering mechanism to prevent the server from responding to every
>incoming message it receives (ie. Mailman either needs to be smarter
>about what messages it replies to & what messages it just
>ignores/discards without a reply, or we need our spam filter to also
>work internally & keep Mailman from sending out spam on its own when
>someone/something abuses forms on the site that could generate an
>email).
>
>On 7/12/22 18:01, Jim Kinney via Ale wrote:
>
>
>Started getting these notices/complaints today and each one is a $5
>charge from my hosting provider. We're up to $35 so far today.
>
>I'm on work out of state and didn't travel with any personal gear and
>Robert is also slammed. Can someone gently talk with the recipient and
>ask if they can simply delete/block instead of complain.
>
>We are open to ideas. That email is already blocked.
>
>
><snip>
>
>
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>--
>Computers amplify human error
>Super computers are really cool
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-- 
Computers amplify human error
Super computers are really cool
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