Administrivia: Out of office replies, faulty configuration and software

[Andrew van der Stock <vanderaj () greebo net>]

Hi there,

We are approaching the end of the year, and that means lots of folks  
taking a well-deserved break. If you're lucky enough to be taking a  
break over the forthcoming holiday season, and if you have e-mail  
software that sends Out of Office notifications to mail lists, I'd  
really appreciate if you could unsubscribe for the duration of your  
break, and re-subscribe when you get back. The archives can be found  
at http://www.securityfocus.com/archive

In other matters, I've noticed a dramatic increase in faulty software  
barraging posters and me alike with useless and annoying messages. If  
your e-mail is processed by faulty software or configuration, such as:

* replying to the list address, rather than obeying the Return-Path  
header - when something goes wrong
- I hate rejecting messages like this - they are worse than spam as  
no one seems to answer them or
  fix the problems.

* creates useless and repetitive notifications to *me* and the  
*sender* of the messages when something goes wrong
- I don't care if X has a full mailbox every five minutes. Turn down  
the amount of these messages or turn them off

* if you run a distribution list on behalf of a number of users...  
and one or more of those members goes missing
- The entire distribution list will be removed. Maintain your  
distribution lists - it's not much to ask

then your subscription to this list will be terminated. I don't like  
doing this, but it's necessary as we're getting to roughly 30  
rejections per message submission which is making posting here less  
than friendly.

Anyway, if I don't post again before the end of the year, tick as  
many of the following that takes your fancy:

[ ] Happy holidays
[ ] Happy Kwanzaa
[ ] (US) National Lemon Cup Cake Day*
[ ] Happy Hanukah
[ ] Happy {winter, summer} solstice
[ ] Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
[ ] Happy New Year
[ ] Party! Party! Partay!

I hope I haven't missed any! :) Anyway, have fun and be safe.

thanks,
Andrew

* I am not making this one up.