Re: [tlug] How to start mailman

["Stephen J. Turnbull" <stephen@example.com>]

>>>>> "Lyle" == Lyle Saxon <Lyle> writes:

    Lyle> Stupid question.  I got MailMan installed, but I don't know
    Lyle> how to start it - typing in "mailman" doesn't do it....

Uh-oh ... we have a lot of studying to do, if you mean Mailman the
mailing list manager.

"Mailing list" here does not mean "a list of addresses to send email
to".  It means "a list of addresses aliased at a central server for
the convenience of a group of users who share a group identity, and
wish to communicate with each other via email without needing to know
everyone's individual email address."  Sorry about that; it's a
reification of the way Unix sysadmins have dealt with this issue since
time immemorial, but it's not an obvious restriction.  ;-)

Mailman is not a user application in the usual sense.  It is a
collection of programs that you may as well think of as plugins for
the MTA and webserver.  You set it up by installing it, including
properly configuring those daemons.  Then you "start" it by sending
mail to a mailing list, or to an admin address, as appropriate.

Just start at the beginning of the docs, and read all the way through.

Or if you don't want to deal with this, go to the Mailman website,
look up the FAQ.  It gives references to "customer relations
management" and "mail merge" software, which are alternative ways to
look at the abstract idea of a mailing list.

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