[boost] Mailing list configuration

Subject: [boost] Mailing list configuration
From: Vladimir Prus (vladimir_at_[hidden])
Date: 2008-12-04 08:26:50

Hi,
it seems that the way most Boost mailing list are configure is
fairly inconvenient, especially for newcomers. Here's a typical
chain of events:

1. Somebody reads Boost mailing list via Gmane and wants to post.
2. He posts.
3. Gmane responds, asking the user to prove that he exists. Somewhere
in the body of the message, Gmane suggest that user subscribes to the
mailing list, but it's very easy to miss, and furthermore, those instructions
do no work for Boost mailing lists.
4. User replies, and Gmane forwards the message to the list.
5. The list is configured to reject email messages from non-subscribers.
When using Gmane, this results in *no notification at all*.
6. User posts directly, and gets bound message saying, literally:

        allowed to post to this mailing list, and your message has been
        automatically rejected.  If you think that your messages are being
        rejected in error, contact the mailing list owner at
        boost-docs-owner_at_[hidden] and [email address]

This message does not even hint that the user has to subscribe.
7. User subscribes. His post in the held for moderation.

I have personally was fairly confused by (6) -- where my messages disappear
silently, and by (7) -- where the message seem to say my messages are
specifically rejected. I suspect many users might not make it to the point (7)
at all.

Can we configure all mailing list to not reject posts from non-subscribes,
instead holding them for moderation. This will also require talking to mailing
list admins to enable at least some spam filtering -- presently, messages
written in the languages I don't understand seem to freely hit boost-build 
mailing list moderation queue, and for boost-devel this will be impossible
to handle.

Comments?

- Volodya