RE: [boost] Need volunteer to supply Boost NNTP/newsgroup server

From: Terence Wilson (tez_at_[hidden])
Date: 2002-03-28 11:38:34

IMHO stopping spam by guarding your email address is a near impossible
task, it only needs to get out once and then it gets copied among the
bulk databases. I have had the same email address since 1994, the
spammers have it, but I don't get much spam because I block at the
server and client. If you don't want to go to the trouble of setting up
your own filters, I would advise using a yahoo or hotmail account and
let someone else filter for you. I would vote for trying a public Usenet
presence for a while, we can always go private if it doesn't work out.
Public Usenet makes it easier for casual users to find us. I originally
found Boost through a Google search while trying to find a better smart
pointer. I use the Google Usenet search engine on a daily basis, I would
be great if Boost related information suddenly starting popping up in my
hit lists.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: boost-admin_at_[hidden] 
> [mailto:boost-admin_at_[hidden]] On Behalf Of David B. Held
> Sent: Thursday, March 28, 2002 7:58 AM
> To: boost_at_[hidden]
> Subject: Re: [boost] Need volunteer to supply Boost 
> NNTP/newsgroup server
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Beman Dawes" <bdawes_at_[hidden]>
> To: <boost_at_[hidden]>; <boost_at_[hidden]>
> Sent: Thursday, March 28, 2002 9:19 AM
> Subject: RE: [boost] Need volunteer to supply Boost 
> NNTP/newsgroup server
> 
> 
> > The rationale is that (1) we want tight control on who and 
> what gets 
> > posted, not just to avoid spam, but also to avoid a lot of other 
> > unhelpful posts, (2) we would be better off to build 
> experience with 
> > newsgroups which we control (and can change quickly at will) before 
> > going public (if indeed we ever want to go public), (3) we want to 
> > hold administrative work to a minimum, (4) a hope that spammers are 
> > less likely to harvest email addresses from a private, controlled 
> > membership, newgroup than a public one.
> >
> > I don't have any personal experience running a newsgroup, 
> so the above 
> > is based a bit on speculation rather than experience.
> >
> > Comments?
> 
> Borland controls their own news servers, and I would have to 
> guess for essentially the same reasons as you have cited 
> above.  While some well-meaning public newsgroups like some 
> gcc support groups are rife with spam, I've never really seen 
> any obvious spam on Borland's newsgroups, so I can only 
> assume the assumptions are valid.  The only thing of which I 
> am unsure is the amount of email harvesting that occurs. 
> However, I have a hard time believing that a spammer building 
> a list of millions of addresses would go to the trouble of 
> finding small private newsgroups just to harvest a few 
> thousand addresses, when there are so many public newsgroups 
> available to glean.
> 
> Dave
> 
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