On Mon, Jun 05, 2000 at 09:13:24AM -0700,
Ryan Russell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> It makes perfect sense, from a certain point of view. The ORBS guys want
> to list relays. The run across an address block that has a number of open
> relays, and the adminitrators of that block aren't responsive to requests
> to arrange to have them closed. ORBS then lists those particular
> addresses (their purpose in life.) In response the provider blocks the
> ORBS machines. The ORBS guys can no longer test for relays, and
> especially given what they had found before and the provider's lack of
> response, they can only assume there are any number of open relays in the
> address block.
>
> Were they to do otherwise, they'd be fail-open instead of fail-closed.
>
Except that sites that block probes rather than fix open relays really
belong in a different kind of list. I think the ORBS would be better
off just listing confirmed open relays. If they would do this, a lot
more people would use them. I think that in general groups that maintain
lists for others to use as block lists should remain very focused and let
the mail admins pick and choose which lists make sense to use for their
sites. When different functions are lumped together, admins may have to
not use a list, even if it lists sites that have some problem they are
willing to block on, but also lists some sites that have a different
problem that they don't want to block on.
