On Sat, 27 Dec 1997 13:52:20 -0500, Mark Hunnibell <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>I have a list that I want to use to broadcast 'official news' messages and
>the messages will only come from a select few people. I understand that
>LISTSERV facilitates this very nicely and has options to prevent forgery of
>mail that are very easy to use from a human perspective. My understanding
>is that this is the kind of thing I want in the header of my list:
>
>*  Send= Editor, Hold
>*  Editor = [log in to unmask]

Almost.  This will allow editors to post without further approval.  To force
even editors to approve their own posts, you need Send= Editor,Hold,Confirm.

>In this case, even if *I* send a message to the list, I will be sent a
>confirmation request to OK the message.
>
>What I would like to know is if there is a way to send a message to force
>immediate approval on receipt.  I have a computer program which is going to
>generate the messages and I'd like to have it set so that the messages
>generated by the program are immediately broadcast to the list without
>first going to the editor. I am concerned about the potential for malicious
>users to forge their "From: " address to that of an authorized sender, so
>that is why I don't want to just add the authorized address to the Editor
>specification.

The confirm mechanism (requiring an exchange of email msgs with the "OK") is the
mechanism that ensures reliability of origin.  You might be able to use the WWW
interface, which allows the entry of a userID@address + personal password to
accomplish the same thing.  (This is a Ver 1.8d feature, and may not yet be
available at your site).  This would get around the email exchange needed to
approve/OK a posting.

>Failing some nifty header magic, is there a way to send a message to
>LISTSERV itself rather than the list with a JOB that tells LISTSERV (with a
>password included) to distribute the enclosed message to the XXXX-L list?

This is a good description of what a Distribute Job is, however, you have to
supply the list of addresses as part of the job, so it's not quite as easy as
saying 'send to xxxx-L list'.  However, this also requires Postmaster (Site Mgr)
privileges and is not usually open to normal list owners.

Concerns about security and convenience are opposite sides of the same coin.
The more convenient, the less secure, and the converse as well.  You need to
decide for your own situation which is most important for you.


--
 __________________________________________________________________
 Ben Parker ..... L-Soft international Inc. ..... [log in to unmask]