1998-10-19-08:55:32 Eric, Audet:
[ re my shell script mailing list manager ]
Why it is not efficient?
Well, my solution invokes an extra shell and sendwhale every c. 20K worth of
addresses --- if a typical address is say 20 characters long on average, that
would be an extra two processes every thousand or so addresses.
No special effort is made to consolidate nearby deliveries, nor to fan-out the
delivery process to spread the load by aggressively consolidating neighboring
addressees. The load isn't dribbled into the MTA gently to avoid spiking the
server. All in all it's cruel.
Why it is not terribly safe?
No effort is made to protect against bogus characters in addresses; this means
if you ever build automated subscription facilities, or someone finds some
other way to add content of their choosing to the address list, they can run
arbitrary commands --- especially if you are running the security-bug-infested
sendwhale.
No check is made on the originator of the message, so anyone can spam your
mailing list.
Those are just the problems that leap to mind at a first glance. They're
enough so if I wanted to run a mailing list, I'd go after some solid, mature
software.
-Bennett