[KLUG Members] Question about spam..

[members@kalamazoolinux.org]

>Ive been reading the list for a while now, I was wondering if there was any
>email programs out there for linux, that would help eliminate the massive
>amounts of spam I recieve to my domain. 

there are several toolsthat I've been using for spam, some old, some new.
Fundamentally, they automate (to a greater or lesser degree) a lot of the
process of submitting complaints to service providers regarding spam.

Two tools come to mind that are both useful and have gotten results:
adcomplain - a huge PERL script that does analysis of e-mail header
             information.
spamcop - A server-based (their server) set of tools that does much the same
          thing as adcomplain.

Adcomplain sends your complaint to a server which has a database identifying
the right place to send the complaint, which is posted when you mail the com-
plaint to the server. Adcomplain is also good about generating text for the
complaint itself.

Spamcop does a more complete job of analyzing the header information, and 
then presents this information on a wege page. You can then add additional 
text to the message, and it is sent on from there to the target[s]. You 
start the process by mailing one or more bits of spam to the spamcop
server, which mails you back with a URL.

There are advantages and weaknesses to each of these.

Mostly what you need are tools like these, and the will to spend a bit of
time, every day, using them. I have found it to be a good investment. Please,
BE PERSISTANT! The amount of spam may not go down for a while, perhaps weeks,
but it will abate. Sending good explanatory messages, perhaps with a little
customization (a strength of adcomplain) to the right place (a strength of
spamcop) helps, too.

<plug type=shameless> 
I'm putting together a KLUG presentation on this topic for a bit later this
year. I suspect that by then, I'll be more spam-free than I am now. If you
heed this message, and attend my presentation, you will be, too!
</plug>

							Regards,
							---> RGB <---