[Toybox] --help annoyance

dmccunney dennis.mccunney at gmail.com
Tue Oct 23 12:58:03 PDT 2018


On Tue, Oct 23, 2018 at 3:26 PM Kevin Spiteri <kspiteri at ieee.org> wrote:
>>
>> > Have you tried the "Never send it to spam" gmail filter action?
>>
>> I didn't know there was one? Hmmm... didn't find it when I was fishing Nick
>> Kralevich's message out of the spam filter. (Somewhere under gear->configure
>> account maybe? I've always been reluctant to touch that stuff, _way_ too
>> complicated. I just want the spam filtering then pop3 into a local email client.)
>
> You can set the filter through the complicated settings page but there's an easier path. On the gmail.com front page search box click the arrow, in the "Has the words" text box type "list:(toybox-landley.net)", click "Create filter", check "Never send it to Spam", and click "Create filter".

I've done it and it works, but it's a PITA.

The original problem source was AOL and Yahoo.  Both had been
thoroughly hacked, and there were oodles of AOL and Yahoo email
addresses in the wild.  It's trivial to forge a From: address in
email, so both became immense sources of spam.

Their response was to implement provisions of the DKIP specifications.
One requires email to be digitally signed to prove it's from who it
says it's from.  Another requires that email not be *changed* en
route.  This *breaks* mailing lists, because the list server must
alter the headers as part of what it does.  People complained to AOL
and Yahoo, and the response was basically "Don't *use* mailing lists.
Use web forums like we provide!"

How badly this bites depends on the email server that delivers your
mail.  Some will see that the headers on list mail have been altered,
decide it's spam, and discard it undelivered.   You'll never know it
was sent.  Others (like Gmail) will accept and deliver but label it as
spam.  I've had conversations on other lists where I explained the
issue and said "If you use an AOL or Yahoo address to send mail to the
list, you have three choices: continue using it but be aware that
other list members might not *see* your posts, use another email
provider, or drop off the list."

You can mark an email source as "Never send to Spam", but the last
time I tried it, every message from that source  had a banner included
that said it had been passed by a filter I created.  This was annoying
enough that I found it simpler to just redirect stuff to the Inbox
that had been flagged as spam.

I prefer to read Gmail online in my browser, and don't require a local
copy, so I don't download to a local mailstore.  Rob does, so his
experience may differ if he tries this.
______
Dennis


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