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@@ -0,0 +1,247 @@ +Mailman - The GNU Mailing List Management System +Copyright (C) 1998,1999,2000,2001,2002 by the Free Software Foundation, Inc. +59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA + +INTRODUCTION + + This is GNU Mailman, a mailing list management system distributed + under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL). The name + of this software is spelled "Mailman" with a leading capital `M' + but with a lower case second `m'. Any other spelling is + incorrect. + + Mailman is written primarily in Python, a free object-oriented + scripting language. There is some ANSI C code for security + purposes. + + Mailman was originally developed by John Viega. Subsequent + development (through version 1.0b3) was by Ken Manheimer. Further + work towards the 1.0 final release was a group effort, with the + core contributors being: Barry Warsaw, Ken Manheimer, Scott + Cotton, Harald Meland, and John Viega. Version 1.0 and beyond + have been primarily maintained by Barry Warsaw with contributions + from many; see the ACKNOWLEDGMENTS file for details. Jeremy + Hylton helped considerably with the Pipermail code in Mailman 2.0. + + The Mailman home page is + + http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman + + with mirrors at + + http://www.list.org + http://mailman.sf.net + + Mailman 2.1 requires Python 2.1.3 or greater, which can be + downloaded from + + http://www.python.org + + It is recommended that you use Python 2.1.3 or Python 2.2.1, the + latest releases as of this writing. Mailman 2.1 is not compatible + with Python 2.0 or any earlier version. + + You will also need an ANSI C compiler to build both Python and + Mailman; gcc (the GNU C compiler) works just fine. Mailman + currently works only on GNU/Linux and other Unix-like operating + systems (e.g. Solaris, *BSD, MacOSX, etc.). It does not run on + Windows, although web and mail clients on any platform should be + able to interact with Mailman just fine. + + See the INSTALL file for installation instructions. If you are + upgrading from a previous version of Mailman, you need to read the + UPGRADING file for important information. + + +FEATURES + + Read the NEWS file for a list of changes since version 0.9. Read + the TODO file for our (extensive) wish list. You can see Mailman + 2.1 in action at + + http://mail.python.org/mailman-21/listinfo + + Mailman has most of the standard features you'd expect in a + mailing list manager, and more: + + - Web based list administration for nearly all tasks. Web based + subscriptions and user configuration management. A customizable + "home page" for each mailing list. + + - Privacy features such as moderation, open and closed list + subscription policies, private membership rosters, and + sender-based filters. + + - Automatic web based archiving built-in with support for private + and public archives, and hooks for external archivers. + + - Per-user configuration optional digest delivery for either + MIME-compliant or RFC 1153 style "plain text" digests. + + - Integrated mail/Usenet gateways. + + - Integrated auto-replies. + + - Majordomo-style email based commands. + + - Integrated bounce detection within an extensible framework. + + - Integrated spam detection, and MIME-based content filtering. + + - An extensible mail delivery pipeline. + + - Support for virtual domains. + + +REQUIREMENTS + + The default mail delivery mechanism uses a direct SMTP connection + to whatever mail transport agent you have running on port 25. You + can thus use Mailman with any such MTA, however with certain MTAs + (e.g. Exim and Postfix), Mailman will support thru-the-web + creation and removal of mailing lists. + + Mailman works with any web server that supports CGI/1.1. The HTML + it generates is quite pedestrian and stingy on the graphics so it + should be friendly to most web browsers and network connections. + It is regularly tested with IE 5.5, Netscape 4.7x, and Mozilla on + Windows and Netscape 4.7x and Mozilla on Linux (and occasionally + Lynx on Linux and Netscape and Mozilla on MacOS too!). + + You will need root access on the machine hosting your Mailman + installation in order to complete some of the configuration + steps. See the INSTALL file for details. + + Mailman's web and email user interface should be compatible with + just about any mail reader or web browser, although a mail reader + that is MIME aware will be a big help. You do not need Java, + JavaScript, or any other fancy plugins. + + +CREATE YOUR FIRST LIST + + These instructions assume that you've installed and configured + Mailman according to the instructions in the INSTALL file. To + create and test your first list, try the following: + + - First, initialize the site administrator's password by cd'ing to + the install directory (by default /usr/local/mailman) and typing + + % bin/mmsitepass + New site password: [yourpassword] + Again to confirm password: [yourpassword] + Password changed. + + - Visit the url + + http://my.dom.ain/mailman/create + + Fill out the form as described in the on-screen instructions, and + in the "List creator's password" field, type the password you + entered above. Type your own email address for the "Initial + list owner address", and select "Yes" to notify the list + administrator. + + - Hit "Create List" + + - Check your email for a message from Mailman informing you that + your new mailing list was created. + + - NOTE: If you are using an MTA other than Exim or Postfix + (e.g. Sendmail or qmail), then you'll need to do the extra step + of installing the mailing list aliases manually. Follow the + instructions in an email message that you should have received + (you'll need to know how to do this for your particular MTA, see + the README for your MTA for more information). + + - Now visit the list's admin page (either by following the link on + the web page or entering the link from the email Mailman just + sent you). Typically the url will be something like + + http://my.dom.ain/mailman/admin/mysitelist + + Type in the list's password and click on "Let me in..." + + - Click on "Membership Management" and then on "Mass Subscription". + + - Enter your email address in the big text field, and click on + "Submit Your Changes" + + - Now go to your email and send a message to yourlist@my.dom.ain. + Within a minute or two you should see your message reflected + back to you via Mailman. + + Congratulations! You've just set up and tested your first Mailman + mailing list. If you had any problems along the way, please see + the section below on FOR MORE INFORMATION. + + +FOR MORE INFORMATION + + The online documentation can be found in + + file:admin/www/index.html + + in the directory in which you unpacked Mailman. + + Chris Kolar has made a list owner-oriented manual available from + the following URL + + http://www.imsa.edu/~ckolar/mailman/ + + There are also several mailing lists that can be used as resources + to help you get going with Mailman. + + Mailman-Users + An list for users of Mailman, for posting questions or + problems related to installation, use, etc. We'll try to keep + the deep technical discussions off this list. + + http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/mailman-users + + Listowners + This mailing list with a non-technical focus, specifically for + discussions from the perspective of listowners and moderators + who do not have "shell access" to the mailing list server + where the Mailman software runs. + + http://listowner.org + + Mailman-Announce + A read-only list for release announcements an other important + news. + + http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/mailman-announce + + Mailman-Developers + A list for those of you interested in helping develop + Mailman's future direction. This list will contain in-depth + technical discussions. + + http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/mailman-developers + + Mailman-I18N + A list for the discussion of the Mailman internationalization + effort. Mailman 2.1 will be fully multi-lingual. + + http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/mailman-i18n + + Mailman-Checkins + A read-only list which is an adjunct to the public anonymous + CVS repository. You can stay on the bleeding edge of Mailman + development by subscribing to this list. + + http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/mailman-checkins + + The Mailman project is coordinated on SourceForge at + + http://sf.net/projects/mailman + + You should use SourceForge to report bugs and to upload patches. + + + +Local Variables: +mode: indented-text +indent-tabs-mode: nil +End: |