MailingListManager

Proposal for improved (proper) Mailing List Manager for James

To seed this discussion, the content begins with a March 2004 proposal for a mailing list manager for Apache James that implements the key features of ezmlm and other mailing list managers. I am listing the major features in brief, so that you don't need to read a lot of detail on concepts you already understand, but if there is anything unclear, please ask.

• - archives (mbox and maildir formats)
  • - write to a suitable format for a separate web archiver, e.g., eyebrowse - provision for simple index/get operations, and later commands as desired. - ability to feed eyebrowse
  - DSN/bounce detection, probe, and subscriber removal - digests (by size or frequency; inline or attachments; possibly RSS) - extensible action library, allowing additional mail commands
  • (e.g., subscribe, confirm, accept, allow, deny, etc.) to be added
  - filtering - header modification (add/remove) - LDAP-based identity and list management
  • - language-neutral; bindings for many languages - could provide a web-based management interface
  - list member management: confirmed opt-in (subscribe) w/records,
  • opt-out with list, unsubscribe
  - list member properties: subscriber, digest subscriber, allowed,
  • denied, pending, bounce, opt-out, moderator, manager
  - list-specific configuration for many of these features
  • - some features, such as filtering and modification are
    • provided by Apache James. The concept being added is the configuration of pre-existing capabilities on a per-list basis through the list manager.
  - mail list domains (allowing list creation within a domain
  • by a domain manager)
  - manager permissions: subscribe, unsubscribe, allow, deny, moderate message - message modification, e.g., bounce/drop/remove/moderate MIME type,
  • add footer
  - moderation (messages and/or subscribers) - parameterized custom texts (shared and per-list) - subscriber list / address obfuscation - VERP

Obviously, some of those are more core features than others, and the project can be scoped as desired. The core is the LDAP-based management and extensible action library, upon which everything else is built. In a pinch, any writable JNDI store could be made to work, but wouldn't be accessible from other languages.