Questions and Answers

Amy Rich

Q We use majordomo to manage a large number of mailing lists. One of the nice features is that it checks the message body and bounces the message to the moderator if the message looks like something that should have gone to majordomo instead of to the list (e.g., unsubscribe, subscribe, remove me, etc.). Normally, this is great, since it prevents a lot of garbage traffic on the lists, but in some cases it tends to bounce valid mail. Is there a way to fine-tune this behavior so that we don't get valid list mail bounced to the moderator?

A Majordomo uses a set of regular expression matches for the Subject: header and the first ten lines of the body. If you take a look at majordomo.cf, you'll see the following near the end:

# List of perl regular expressions that, if found in the headers 
# of a message, will cause the message to be bounced to the list 
# approver. Put each regular expression on a separate line before 
# the "END" mark, with no trailing ";"
   
# Administrative checks. These used to be buried in the resend code
$admin_headers = <<'END';
(regular expressions deleted)
END
   
# Common things that people send to the wrong address.
# These are caught in the first 10 lines of the message body 
# if 'administrivia' is turned on and the message isn't marked 
# approved.
$admin_body = <<'END';
(regular expressions deleted)
END
   
# taboo headers to catch
$global_taboo_headers = <<'END';
(regular expressions deleted)
END
   
# Taboo body contents to catch and forward to the approval address
$global_taboo_body = <<'END';
END