Why not a private news server?

[gabe]

In response to David Cooley,

If they (spammers) are that determined they will get to us with any solution we take.

A person can set the server up so that if port scanned, the IP doing the scanning is
automatically put on a "Black list" and not responded to, same can be done to IP's
that throw constant unsuccessful unames/pswds.  There are ways to fight such
determination.  You are also talking about a very high profile place (Intel) you have
to expect that sort of thing there, I am sure they and Microsoft are under constant
hacker attack.  We on the other hand are pretty low key.  I run a low profile domain,
and a corporate web server and do not have such problems.  Server logs will also help
identify potential problems.

I really think all that is unnecessary in our case.

As for bandwidth, with a News setup, many messages that do not pertain to people are
interested in do not have to be looked at/downloaded, bandwidth substantially
reduced.

As for everyone getting off work at 5pm, we all live in different time zones, not
everyone gets off work and runs to their computers and downloads all messages at the
same time, yes there will be busier times, but all that will be mass downloaded at
any given time is headers, then all the server has to do is dish out messages one at
a time when requested.  Also the strain on a News server is far less then that of a
Web server running the latest software goodies, scripting, and soforth.  I can't
imagine a machine like that, properly setup not being able to handle our traffic
while idling.  My Celeron 400 256MB machine does an amazing amount of work running
resource hungry NT, me using it constantly, webserving (lots of ASP's), firewalling,
passing all intra/internet traffic, and being the server on our local network, and is
rock solid stable and still very fast for daily use ( I currently have 13 windows up,
one of those currently has 16 doc's open inside it)

> And that is what I am interested in as well, but 2 or 3 of the group want
> to badmouth public email servers for a *TEMPORARY* home.

I am not badmouthing anything, I was just stating my opinion, I personally think
changing 2 or 3 times will cause problems and cause a loss of interest for some
users.  If we can do this right the first time, why don't we try.

> One other factor is to have your info published on a private news server is
> going to take money as well unless someone runs one and is going to donate
> time/resources to the list.

There have already been a couple of offers put on the table for a minimal or no
cost.  Unfortunately they have been attacked.  I would offer, but as I said, I am
behind a firewall.

In response to some others....

> there may possibly also be some people using software/ISPs
> that do not allow them to pick which newsserver they use

An ISP does not care what news server you use any more than what website you view.
If your newsreader cannot support going to a our private server, time to donate a few
minutes to downloading one of the many freeware news clients that do.

The only person that this solution would hurt is a person who only has a Juno account
with no actual internet access.

> anyone can get a valid username from hotmail

Yep, and if they spam from it, they get nailed.

> and if someone is interested in EFI how will they find the list
> from a link on EFI332
> gee, do thing maybe a spammer could find that?

I'm sure spammers browse and dream of spamming EFI332 quite often, LOL...
That is far more trouble than most spammers are going to go to, in fact if they go to
that much trouble, wouldn't they be spamming us currently??  There are too many easy
to harvest address on USENET and that can be siphoned straight from the web to bother
with going thru several steps to piss off a small group like us, who will probably
report them for violating the group.

> The password protected news server with an account/password for each
> user and that associated with a email address would be actually a bit
> more secure that what we currently have.

My point Exactly.

> BZZZT
> wrong answer
> thanks for playing
> I have had this happen on a few lists I am on
> A specialized group is the best target for spammers
> especially if thay have what *THEY* think is a relevant product

Why then, do we not currently get spammed on a frequent basis, a PRIVATE news server
is as or more secure than our current setup.  Also our e-mail addresses are ripe for
the siphoning sitting in the unprotected archives.

Doesn't onelist publicize our group much more and open the door for those
"persistent" spammers.

Any solution will require proper server setup, I am wondering if the "bad
experiences"  you are speaking of were on a server that was not properly protected.

> I may as well just go read
> the archives if you do that, if there is an archive.
> And that, or news groups, are not as immediate or
> engaging, so I would not be compelled to contribute.

This is what I am talking about,  we are not suggesting a traditional usenet group,
but an immediately appearing private news server, if you don't like supplying a
password everytime, setup your password in your news reader, it will provide it
automatically whenever needed.

Sorry for the long off-topic post

I am going to quit arguing now.  If I haven't stated my point by now, it cannot be
stated.   I don't understand why everyone is for going to an outside source which
will spam every message and yet still be so paranoid about being spammed on a
platform far more secure that what we currently use.

Ultimately it is in the hands of the Admins, they will choose the best option with
what is available,  I am sure that us not hearing  from them is good news.  Things
must be under control.  Whatever we end up with will be worthwhile.

Whew!

Gabe