Mailing List Managers

Features:

• manage via email (web-based management not required)
• web-based management available
• users aren't forced to use a password to unsubscribe
• detect hard bounces and unsubscribe as needed
• track record of security issues
• bloated? lightweight? perl?
• can automatically reject or remove attachments.
• can limit max size of posted messages

ezmlm

• works with qmail and postfix (about ezmlm and postfix see: http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/postfix/2001-07/0457.html and http://madhaus.utcs.utoronto.ca/ezmlm/archive/msg01570.html)
• very easy to set up (a one line command)
• you can set up the mailing list as a regular user -- no root interference required except in setting up the software itself.
• you can set up several lists as the same user (say, list-one@host, list-two@host etc for user list).
• you have DJB's well known assurances on security and reliability
• all commands are email-based: you send email to list-one-subscribe@... to subscribe, list-one-unsubscribe@.... to unsubscribe, and to each you'll get a confirmation mail which you need to reply to, but no passwords. It may be possible to set it up without requiring confirmation for subscribes/unsubscribes -- it all works with .qmail files so one can manipulate those directly and do lots of things.
• can detect hard bounces and unsubscribe as needed

fml

listar

• A CGI front-end for Listar is available

Mailman - the GNU Mailing List Manager

• python based
• web-based interface, though it does respond to email commands for some things;
• also command line management;
• users need to use passwords to unsubscribe
• can automagically unsubscribe users that have bounced a few times (configurable);
• quite flexible: permit you to block/hold mail based on suspicious headers, and that has blocked attachments so far.
• may have issues with big lists (20000+) -- be sure to use standard SMTPDirect method (instead of sendmail) (this issue may be improved in 2.1.x series)

smartlist

• smartlist is based on procmail

sympa

• perl based (and uses several CPAN modules)

Resources