Re: What is going on? Why is nobody handling this terrible spam situation??

[Timur Tabi <timur.tabi@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Usman S. Ansari wrote:

> Perhaps a better solution would be to
> 1. Posting only from members of the list.

I don't understand why so many Linux mailing lists are open to the public.  It's just a 
magnet for spammers.

I maintain a mailing list (on Yahoo Groups, ironically) for OS/2 driver developers. 
Whenever someone wants to join the mailing list, they are required to first prove to me 
that they are an OS/2 developer.  This eliminates all the spammers (all of which come from 
India, by they way).

Obviously, my mailing list is nowhere near as popular as this one, so a manual process is 
too cumbersome.  What I suggest is that anyone who wants to join this mailing list should 
be emailed a link to a web site.  When they visit the site, they are asked a simple 
question about programming that only a programmer would know.  If they can't answer that 
question correctly, then they have no business on this list.  After all, you should 
already be a programmer to some degree before you attempt to tackle the kernel.  Voila, 
problem solved!

--
Timur Tabi
Staff Software Engineer
timur.tabi@xxxxxxxxxxx

One thing a Southern boy will never say is,
"I don't think duct tape will fix it."
     -- Ed Smylie, NASA engineer for Apollo 13

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