At 12:50 PM 8/8/1997 -0400, Mary Schweitzer wrote:
>Interesting, but that begs the original question.  As I have seen it in
>operation, the most EFFECTIVE way to operate an informational USENET
>site and keep the spammers and jerks off of it is to run it from a
>moderated discussion list.  This is what I want to do.

Fine.  Get the point.  Won't argue with you.  But....that does NOT solve
the problem of the spam on the Usenet side.  Your users will get buried in
it there.  THAT is what makes so many of us counsel against going to Usenet
any more.

>The only way the L-Soft listowner's manual explains how to do that is
>through the American U gateway.

Naturally.  It was the only one operated as an international service for
any who wanted to do it.  Doesn't surprise me that this is not a high
priority for an institution that is privately funded.  Not sure it is what
I'd want MY tuition going to support.  Jim did it as a labor of love.
Again, hardly surprising that it isn't there any more.

>If there are gateways that are only local, that is not what I am looking
>for.

Understand, but any gateway can be EITHER local or not, depending on
configuration by the people running it.

>I have to go through the FAQs again, but I did not see information in the
>Big Eight faqs saying how to create a USENET site that is accessible only
>via a moderated discussion list.  One of the subscribers here kindly
>offered what appears to be the only solution.

Doing that doesn't get it moderated.  Usenet spoofing of moderator approval
is laughably simple, and much spam already shows that "approval" on Usenet.
 Yes, you can easily keep it from getting back to your listserv users.

>But I think what a lot of us are asking is whether or not L-Soft is going
>to help us out here in any way -- at least provide information if nothing
>else.

They've been there and done that.  Eric said no.  The techie problems are
local to whoever is going to do it for you.  Sounds to me like you need to
talk to your ISP (good luck on yours, plus doubt any will do it for free),
or if you have connections at a university or elsewhere, then it is time to
start taking some of the nice folks there out for a lunch, beer, coffee, or
whatever.  o-)   I'm NOT kidding.  There's more than one way to a geek's
heart.....

>Well, pardon me, but that's not my experience.  And I don't want to have
>to write a dissertation on it.  Can my request be respected just as it is
>without the answer being, "Aw, if you were REAL knowledgeable you wouldn't
>want to do it"?

Well, I won't repeat that.  But I'll think it.  I'll also note that even if
you get the newsgroup in bit.listserv.* or as alt.whatever, you've still
got the problem of having people convince ISPs to add a new group.  Some
will add whatever new comes down the line, but a great many won't.  If a
site's feed doesn't provide it, they won't get it either without a bunch of
extra work.

>Is there anyplace in clear language that explains how to do what I want
>to do -- GATE AN EXISTING, MODERATED DISCUSSION LIST TO USENET IN SUCH
>A WAY THAT NO ONE CAN POST WITHOUT GOING THROUGH THE MODERATOR OF THE
>DISCUSSION LIST?

Not that I know of, and apparently not that others know of.  In part, what
you want is so unusual these days that not many want to bother with it, at
least in part due to spam.

>serious disabilities of my illness is I have a hard time reading
>and comprehending large amounts of written material.  That's one of

That's why you need to get together with the geeks from the campus you're
on leave from.

>quite severely.  The purpose of my lists is to provide support,
>information, and a center for advocacy for people with my illness.

No argument with the legitimacy of your request.

>The one we want to gate to USENET would be connected with a nonprofit
>on-line organization for PWC's (people with CFIDS).  Yes, we have a
>website.  But we also want access to a USENET gateway.)

Maybe your website provider will be interested for money or lunches.  Really.

>Finally, if the American U gateway is on its last legs (which it appears
>to be -- but it would be nice to hear from SOMEONE who is in the know
>whether this is actually the case) -- what are all of those people who
>already USE that gateway going to do?

I'm killing the feeds from my twelve lists.  They're just NOT worth the
trouble to me, or to the moderators of the lists (which isn't me except for
one of them).  Now I've just got to work out how to kill the newsgroups so
that these places that carry the name of my lists go away, instead of just
filling up with spam.

dan


Dan Lester
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In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.  Erasmus, 1534