Die · 5 August 2002
SpamAssassin is a good thing. Since installation three weeks ago (thanks Luke!) it has bagged & tagged just shy of one thousand unsolicited commercial email messages, with two false positives.
Previously I’d been using SpamBouncer locally, which involved a pretty fussy install of the Unix apps procmail and fetchmail in OS X, and which required three steps to get mail (run fetchmail from Terminal, watch the filtering as it happened in Console, then pick over the remains in Mail.app). It also tended to nix a fair bit of legitimate mail.
When installed at one’s mail server (those with Perl chops can install it locally, within OS X), SpamAssassin hums quietly away, running all incoming mail against an enormous list of criteria, flagging suspected spam with bitter-sharp accuracy. After a couple weeks of scanning with a furrowed brow, I now confidently send all flagged mail right to the trash.
SpamAssassin is a good thing. Talk to your server admin about it.
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