[BlueOnyx:07218] Re: Can't delete virtual sites since mailman

[Michael Stauber]

Hi David,

> Now, regarding the automatic prefixing of the list names: I actually think 
> the first-come first-served approach would be preferable over the random 
> number prefix. I think that someone trying to use 'news at mydomain.com' as 
> the list name (and finding 'news' already in use) would rather accept a 
> suggestion to use 'mydomain-news at mydomain.com' over being forced to accept 
> '284-news at mydomain.com' without a choice. I'd think most list creators 
> would rather take a second or third try at coming up with a unique list 
> name than having to accept a random number prefix.
> 
> It's a lot like registering a domain name: I think most people would like 
> to creatively come up with their own unique variation rather than accept a 
> random number prefix. If I try to register 'mydomain.com' and it's already 
> taken, I don't want the registrar to randomly assign '8372-mydomain.com' 
> as my domain. I want to spend some time coming up with a unique 
> alternative.

Sure, that's a good suggestion and I'm thinking about implementing them, as 
I'm not entirely happy with the arbitrary prefix to mailman aliasses either.

Part of the problem there is the "conflict avoidance". Lets say we forego the 
prefix entirely and someone creates a mailing list named "support". In that 
case we need a check to see if there is already a list named "support" with a 
conflicting alias. But we also would need to check if there is another 
"regular" email-alias or even a mailbox named "support" anywhere on the box.

Those checks require a bit of extra coding. Also, on boxes with many accounts 
these checks may take a while to go through, as a lot of CODB database fields 
need to be checked. But I'll look into it.

The idea of using parts of the site name as prefix is also a nice. But say you 
have a site named" www.domain.com" and another one named 
"customer.domain.com". In that case using just the name part of the FQDN may 
not be enough.

So the best approach is proably to get a fully working check going to see if 
an unprefixed mailing list alias is possible, or if that name would cause 
issues with already existing mailbox names, aliasses or list names.

-- 
With best regards

Michael Stauber