So, the BALUG-Admin(a)lists.balug.org list,
looks like sometime between
2024-08-01 and 2025-05-01,
likely some bot or the like subscribed lots of email addresses to the
BALUG-Admin(a)lists.balug.org list:
> YYYY-MM-DD announce talk admin
> 2025-05-01 566 433 146
> 2024-08-01 497 232 32
So, I'll be looking over those additions, and
WILL PURGE most of those additions (those that seem likely to
be bot subscriptions/additions). I may inadvertently remove some
that are legitimate subscriptions. I'll update once I've completed
that purge. So, if you receive this email, but not that one,
you may have been unsubscribed. One can also check the archives
(list is publicly archived) to see if/when that subsequent posting
has been sent, this list is currently archived at:
https://lists.balug.org/mailman3/hyperkitty/list/balug-admin@lists.balug.or…
I'll also send additional information at that time (notably including
how to check if one is still subscribed, etc.). I will not be emailing
out list of the specific email addresses removed.
I expect I'll have this completed within 24 hours.
After this purge on the BALUG-Admin list, I'll likely proceed similarly
for the BALUG-Talk and BALUG-Announce lists, as looks like those
probably also experienced similar large bumps in subscriptions via
(presumed) bot(s). I may also do likewise for BALUG-Test list,
though that list is not of as much concern.
On Tue, Jul 1, 2025 at 6:01 AM Michael Paoli via BALUG-Admin
<balug-admin(a)lists.balug.org> wrote:
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Michael Paoli <Michael.Paoli(a)berkeley.edu>
> To: BALUG-Admin <balug-admin(a)lists.balug.org>
> Cc:
> Bcc:
> Date: Tue, 01 Jul 2025 13:01:01 +0000
> Subject: [BALUG-Admin] BALUG: Lists, stats, etc.
> dates, lists, number of members:
> YYYY-MM-DD announce talk admin
> 2025-07-01 559 466 148
> 2025-06-01 556 447 146
> 2025-05-01 566 433 146
> 2024-08-01 497 232 32
> 2024-07-01 497 232 32
> 2024-06-01 498 231 33
> 2024-05-01 499 231 33
> 2024-04-01 500 230 33
> 2024-03-01 498 230 33
> 2024-02-01 499 229 33
> 2024-01-01 497 227 31
> 2023-12-01 497 227 32
> 2023-11-01 496 249 32
> 2023-10-01 496 248 32
> 2023-09-01 497 248 32
> 2023-08-01 498 248 32
Correcting an accidentally omitted word:
> (2) Using the listadmin-accessible-only setting creates an implication
> of hypercontrol and creates the suspicion in the minds of many of us
> mailing list old-timers that this is yet another forum run by control
> freaks who like to "disappear" people they dislike while making sure
> that, lacking access to the roster, they write to their fellow members
> to protest the action. ^ cannot
And yes, I've seen a couple of mailing lists where such warning signs
_do_ correctly indicate that such passive-aggressive, control-freak
behaviour is endemic among the listadmin staff.
By the way, speaking of typing gaffes, I just did some very minor and
insufferably pedantic copyediting fixes to the new text on the listinfo
pages:
o "subscribed": You accidentally omitted the "r".
o "Web": Being a proper noun in this context, it needs an initial capital.
o "Linux": Since it's not an acronym, "LINUX" really wasn't right.
I also bestowed a few initial capitals, closing periods, and commas
where needed. (Yeah, I know most people lack the pedant gene, and am
not complaining. I just want our pages to look the best they can.)