Hi! Thanks for the welcome--it's really great to be here! I just flew in from... oh, wait. Wrong venue.
This Mailman issue is a real problem for me. I contacted support to find the mail metrics, and I followed up with a question to them to be sure I understood the impact of the mail rate rules on Mailman's operation. The answer I got was not what I was looking for. Perhaps I misunderstood, or stated my question improperly. Let me ask again, here, and see what you think.
I have an acccount that currently uses Mailman. Mailman has a mail list with x members (where x is the number of club members using the mail list). TCH has mail rules for sending rate that limit the number of emails to a rate of y emails per z time quantum. Although we're not using actual numbers here, let's say for argument that x=3y.
If I then attempt to send email to the [X] list, Mailman will begin sending x emails. After a third of the emails are delivered, the server's throttle rules are met (we've sent y emails in less than z time). Now... the big question. What happens next?
Case A: the remaining 2/3 x emails are held in queue until the remaining z time passes; then the next 1/3 x emails are sent; another z quantum passes; the remaining 1/3 x emails are delivered.
Case B: the remaining 2/3 x emails are sent to /dev/null
I can live with A. B is unacceptable, especially if this is a silent failure. After my exchange with support, I believe I was told that Case B was what happens.
As I ponder the suggestions about replacements for Mailman, I have to step back and consider the bigger picture. If the above is true (mail gets dropped), and this happens at the server level, then I assume that other mail list programs (like those suggested above as replacements) will also fall under the throttle rules.
It's a shame we are getting chased off the Internet by the spammers. I understand and am sympathetic to the plight of ISPs who have to implement these types of throttling metrics. Please help me understand completely the rules here at TCH so I can make a sound decision.
