>... So point the sender to a special, single, up-to-eight-bytes-long,
>"error absorber" address - one for every SERVER, not LIST - and let
>[....]
 
And with R2.0x of the VM mailer (in case you need yet another reason
to upgrade your trusty old 1.xx mailer) it is even possible to
preserve the information for which list a reject is destined.
 
Set the sender address for list BOUNCE-L to
 
  BOUNCE-L%ERRORBOX@YourSite
 
This makes Rice-Mail happy, it will show BOUNCE-L in its menu when
receiving list mail.
Then (of course you did this before) add an entry your mailer table:
 
  ERRORBOX   *  ERRORBOX BSMTP 3
 
(There are approximately 100 more ways to skin this cat).
Now you have all bounced  mail in ERRORBOX' reader. Next step:
Autolog ERRORBOX once a day and let it purge its reader files
and you are done. (Kidding? Hmm, I have to think about it :-)
 
All this can be done with existing software without changing
a single line of code. The coding of the automatic junk mail
processing is left as an exercise to the reader.
 
If you are really interested in improving the messy situation,
then just do it. Don't ask Eric to do it for you, he is busy
considering the pros and cons of giving the current Listser
release to Earn sites :-)
 
>(Asbestos underwear on)
 
Asbestos isn't good for your health. But anyway, where is this
flameproof umbrella I got at my first anniversary as postmaster ...
 
  Thomas