Some opposition against a pull system is not really well founded.
1. "People are mobile - a pull system is slow!"
No, not at all. When you have a telephone modem the delays are caused by
viruses, attached documents and so forth. In a pull system only the
notifications are pushed and they will be less than say 200 characters long.
If you are concerned about mail on mobile equipment - pull is the solution
for you!
Chris wants his mail server to do the pulling. I think it could be an option
if you work in an organization where a lot of data is sent.
2. "Blacklists tend to run at the whim of the blacklist owner"
Well, Chris! What is the problem with that? I would not subscribe to the
"young boys with motorbikes' blacklist", but I guess young boys with
motorbikes will love it. I would subscribe to the Swedish University Network
blacklist and whitelist. I guess that will not be interesting to you since
you are interested in Australian sewing machines. A blacklist can actually
be made using your classification idea. Have you thought about that? ;-)
3. "People will misuse the [Delete spam] button casting a vote "spammer" on
innocent people and organizations."
True. But the [Delete spam] button is the way for a user to instruct the
program to delete notifications from that address. I do not suggest that
everyone should be included in a voting system. But there are organizations
contain people who can use the classification system and use the [Delete
spam] button properly. Perhaps the Swedish University Network (SUNET) would
find it a good idea to implement a voting system, a blacklist and a
whitelist. If SUNET does impement a blacklist and a whitelist it is up to
me if I am happy subscribing to it. If you think blacklists is a lousy
idea - fine! Do not use them but let me use them!
4. "Spammers will lie about their classification"
True. But if some organizations blacklist spammers it is better for them to
be honest. That is why Chris needs blacklists even if he does not like them!
The main advantages with a pull system, as I see it, is:
1) to allow pull servers only on static IP addresses where the owners have
asked for the ports to be opened. This way spammers will find it really hard
to find unprotected computers.
2) the mail client will coopererate with the notification server making
virus and spam mails visible allowing the user to remove them.
3) it will be an excellent choice for mobile equipment.
4) it will make it easier to construct blacklists
5) it will makie it easier to enforce a mail classification system
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