On Thu, 21 Dec 2006 20:26:49 -0500, Christopher Wilson <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

>In reading through the site keyword reference for 15.0, I noticed that
>there is a new keyword: DEFAULT_DIST_BACKGROUND
>
>Now, my question is- if I set up a group of lists to be diverted by the
>MTA (in my case postfix) to a script which turns the messages into
>DISTRIBUTE jobs with BACKGROUND=NO, would this (in effect) be giving
>those lists "priority" on the server?

This might work, but then you have to write your script to do the processing
and go to a lot of trouble.  Also this is not what DEFAULT_DIST_BACKGROUND was
intended for.  See the 15.0 Release notes sectin on background distribute
delivery.

>I've got a few lists that get used for Public Safety, Emergency
>Management and related functions and this seems like it could be a nice
>thing to placate the VIPs with.

Using SMTP Worker pools and a second 'high-priority' mail server (even another
instance of Postfix listening on a different port on the same MTA server) is a
more certain way to get 'high-priority' mailings out fast.  The basic problem
is LISTSERV has no way to control prioritization in the MTA (Postfix).  If
several large list mailings have left LISTSERV and are all in postfix and then
you add a 'high-priority' Distribute job and push it into the same Postfix,
the priority is lost as soon as the mail is comingled.  By sending it to a
separate server that you have setup specifically for this purpose and which is
not used for general purposes, you are more likely to achieve desired results.

Also, I would guess that in an institutional context all the recipients will
tend to be 'local' (on campus) and part of the same mail system (*@gwu.edu),
whereas list mailings may include non-campus addresses.  In short, I suggest
the limitation may well turn out to be the receiving mail server.