Re: Sourceforge problems

At 29.07.2003 08:46, [email protected] wrote:
> > What is the problem? It works quite well for us.
>
>It'll work for people who use their ISPs smtp server.  However, 
>sourceforge is using an IP blacklist the treats all mail from dynamic IP's 
>as spam.  Ultimately, it discriminates against the Linux community of mutt 
>users.  Sourceforge is sloppy about how they detect spam.  If an IP is 
>dynamic, they reject w/out looking further.  They don't even have the 
>decency to pass it through a more complete analysis using a tool like 
>spamassassin.  At the same time, it's ineffective because spammers still 
>penetrate, while legitimate users are denied service.
...
>When I complained to the sourceforge admins, stating that I would not 
>support their projects until they fix the problem or whitelist my IP, 
>their response was that their policy was worth losing some 
>contributors.  I was shocked.  I expected the sourceforge community to be 
>more articulate.  It seems that while the talented intellectuals are 
>working on projects, the folks behind the scenes aren't the brightest of 
>the crowd.

Well, I see your point. You are right that at least their reply to you is a 
little bit brain dead.
On the other hand, I can also see reasons why dynamic IP addresses are 
blocked, e.g. for blocking mails sent by viruses.
E.g. for that reason our network admin team recently decided to block all 
outgoing smtp protocol except from our central smtp server (by which also 
outgoing mails are virus checked). This affects not only mutt users but all 
Linux and other Un*x systems on our campus. But it seems that nobody has 
problems with this. One only needs to configure the sendmail to send via 
the central smtp server.
Couldn't it be a solution for you to use your ISP's smtp server?

>They try to justify it by making the claim that a majority of the rejects 
>are spam.  This is probably correct, but it's against the peer to peer 
>spirit of the Internet, and people should never support spam blocking at 
>the expense of cutting off legitimate traffic.

I also see this. But in my view the spirit of the Internet is more and more 
poisoned by spammers and virus writers. Sorry to say, as there is yet no 
police effectively stopping the bad guys, life in the Internet has become 
dangerous. One has to lock one's doors and do admission control. It is 
inevitable that security measures also make legitimate usage more clumsy, 
but would you therefore do without door locks?

My .01$ opinion.
Regards, Wilfried




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