[xsl] Changes to the List Software

[Tommie Usdin <btusdin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

To Subscribers to XSL-List:

In the next little while (later today or perhaps tomorrow) the
software behind the list will change. You may notice a few
cosmetic changes in list messages. If you notice any problems
please let me know.


The triggering reason for the change is explained by the
list management service:

> A week or so ago, Yahoo changed their DMARC
> policy to "reject" in the name of fighting spam.  AOL did the same
> just yesterday.  This essentially means that the email address in
> the From: header needs to come from the actual network of that
> address, i.e., any email from user@xxxxxxxxx needs to be delivered
> by Yahoo's mail servers if the recipient provider is checking DMARC,
> and the major ISPs AOL/Yahoo/Gmail/MSN are.
>
> This breaks discussion list deliveries (for all listserves) to the
> major ISPs for Yahoo, and now AOL, posters.  Digest deliveries do
> not break because the originating message is from an
> @lists.mulberrytech.com adminstrative address.


> This is an interesting move by Yahoo and now AOL.  It was deployed
> by Yahoo with no warning.  The DMARC specification is only a draft,
> not an RFC, and so Yahoo is essentially strong-arming everyone into
> compliance.  DMARC itself makes no recommendations about accommodating
> discussion lists, in fact acknowledges that they break.  It is clearly
> a case of knowingly breaking service for discussion list subscribers
> (whom I suspect have been using them for a long time) because the spam
> problem is bigger.


The new tool will:

> rewrite a from address like this:
>
> From: Joe User <joeuser@xxxxxxxxx>
>
> to this:
>
> From: "Joe User joeuser@xxxxxxxxx"
<xsl-list-service@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
> This makes it more clear who the sender is, meets the DMARC
> requirements, and does not change the behavior of a subscriber reply
> because your lists have the Reply-To: header set to be the list
> posting address.


> There will be some trade-offs:
> - The current digest format orders the messages by subject.  The
>  new system would be chronological.
> - The new system would present each post as an in-line attachment,
>  and thus should fix character set display issues.
> - Digests would be generated at a specified time overnight (not
>  configurable, initially).

It doesnt look like we have much choice, and Biglist has assured
me that they will be available to deal with challenges as they
arise.

So, please let me know if you have difficulties as the tool under
XSL-List changes.

 Tommie

======================================================================
B. Tommie Usdin                        mailto:btusdin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Mulberry Technologies, Inc.                http://www.mulberrytech.com
17 West Jefferson Street                           Phone: 301/315-9631
Suite 207                                    Direct Line: 301/315-9634
Rockville, MD  20850                                 Fax: 301/315-8285
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Mulberry Technologies: A Consultancy Specializing in XML and SGML
======================================================================