[imapfilter-devel] interest in filter mailing lists on unknown names

[Tobias Eigen]

Hi, 

I've just started playing with imapfilter and am very pleased with its
functionality, esp for filtering lists into subfolders automatically. 

I'm interested in the functionality described in this thread titled "filter
mailing lists on unknown names" -
http://lists.hellug.gr/pipermail/imapfilter-devel/2004/000512.html

You said then that the functionality was not present back in February - have
you
managed to get it now? 

My idea is to enable a new way for African organizations accessing mailing
lists
using mailboxes on our server to share the benefits of lists they subscribe to,
using shared folders with messages filtered into them, perhaps using
imapfilter. 

They can then dump their public list messages directly into a 'lists' folder in
their mailbox (or create a filter to move them in there automatically when they
log in) to be processed by imapfilter via a cronjob. Messages in that folder
would be filtered into publicly shared folders (one per list) that don't count
towards their disk quota. Any dupes would be deleted based on message ids. We
could then also monitor these shared list folders for new and useful lists
which we can then add to a database of useful lists and inform our members
about. 

Crazy? 

I know there are some problems to overcome with this, for example the fact that
some private list messages might get into a public archive. Perhaps the way
around it is to have the new lists go into folders for an admin to look at and
contact the listowner before adding them to a database and public shared
folders. 

Another issue to get around is the way imapfilter actually authenticates as an
imap client using a password. Is there a way for imapfilter to work from the
maildir files rather than via the imap server? 

Many thanks for producing this nifty, useful utility! 

Best wishes, 

Tobias

-- 
Tobias Eigen
Executive Director

Kabissa - Space for change in Africa
http://www.kabissa.org

* Kabissa, meaning complete in Kiswahili, was founded on the belief that 
information and communications technologies (ICTs) can be a revolutionary 
force in civil society. *