I operate three mailing lists, which are moderately active, and would
like to be able to take them from Topica and run them myself. I have a
Debian Linux server, but am not an expert at Linux software. I do not
have php-imap installed and it's not likely to be installed. One list
is announce-only, the other two are interactive. I am looking for
something *like* majordomo, but easier to set up and maintain, and
which can handle bounces. I would appreciate a couple o' suggestions.
I can run php 4 and perl; I don't think I have python. The mail server
is Apache. I'd like to avoid using apt-get or dselect because of
problems with the current setup. Thanks...

A concise question that deserves a concise answer.

There is no question in my mind that you should use Mailman.  It is
powerful, flexible, featureful and has an easy-to-use web-based
interface that even my grandmother could use-- and she's not even
alive.

 - http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/

Since you are using Debian, you should be able to use the distribution
of mailman that is part of Debian, however, since you don't want to
use dselect or apt-get, you can download the .deb files for both
python and mailman with these links:

 - http://packages.debian.org/stable/mail/mailman
 - http://packages.debian.org/stable/interpreters/python2.1

I would, however, strongly recommend that you rectify the issue that
prevents you from using apt-get or dselect, since they provide so much
utility, but I certainly understand if you are not in the position to
do so.

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Request for Answer Clarification by davert2-ga on 04 Jun 2004 11:41 PDT

The apt problem is pretty much resolved. I did use apt to install
mailman but can't figure out where the interface is. If you can give
me just the next pointer on what to do next I'd appreciate it.

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Clarification of Answer by dharbigt-ga on 04 Jun 2004 12:42 PDT

All of the binaries should be installed in /usr/lib/mailman/bin with
links in /usr/sbin:

% cd /usr/sbin
% ls -lA newlist
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root           26 Mar 10 05:55 newlist ->
../lib/mailman/bin/newlist*

So, to add a new list, you can run newlist (as root or as the owner of
the list software)...

Here's an example of an apache entry which makes the appropriate
aliases for the service... you'd have to add a CNAME for
lists.domain.com (or, rather, your name of choice):

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerAdmin webmaster@lists.domain.com
    DocumentRoot /vol/www/lists.domain.com
    ServerName lists.domain.com
    ScriptAlias /mailman/ /usr/lib/cgi-bin/mailman/
    Alias /pipermail/ /var/lib/mailman/archives/public/
    <Directory /usr/lib/cgi-bin/mailman/>
      AllowOverride None
      Options ExecCGI
      Order allow,deny
      Allow from all
    </Directory>
    <Directory /var/lib/mailman/archives/public/>
      AllowOverride None
      Order allow,deny
      Allow from all
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

This should let you access the mailman as:
 - http://lists.domain.com/mailman/admin/

And for user-level:
 - http://lists.domain.com/mailman/listinfo/

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Request for Answer Clarification by davert2-ga on 06 Jun 2004 06:20 PDT

I'm sorry, I absolutely cannot get mailman to work on my server. Any
altenrative would be appreciated.

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Clarification of Answer by dharbigt-ga on 11 Jun 2004 10:20 PDT

Personally, I can't recommend anything else.  The other solutions I
know of are more difficult and less useful.

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Request for Answer Clarification by davert2-ga on 11 Jun 2004 11:11 PDT

OK. Thanks for answering. Sorry about the three star rating. I thought
I'd have a chance to raise it after your clarification. I moved the
server to Red Hat 9 and hopefully will have mailman working soon.

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Clarification of Answer by dharbigt-ga on 11 Jun 2004 11:59 PDT

I'm not really concerned about ratings and if you don't feel you
should pay for the answer, that's fine, too.  Good luck with your new
install.

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Request for Answer Clarification by davert2-ga on 11 Jun 2004 12:54 PDT

I thought I *had* paid.