Re: debian-user message size limit
On Fri 17 Jun 2022, at 20:00, Brian <ad44@cityscape.co.uk> wrote:
> On Fri 17 Jun 2022 at 16:24:54 +0100, Gareth Evans wrote:
>
>> Is there a limit for message size on debian-user?
>>
>> I can't find any such info on
>>
>> https://lists.debian.org/
>>
>> https://www.debian.org/MailingLists/
>>
>> https://lists.debian.org/debian-user/
>>
>> but a couple of recent large-ish messages (one ~270K with two
>> screenshots, one 70K with log output) have neither got through nor
>> bounced back.
>>
>> It would be helpful to know what it is if there is one.
>
> Don't expect Listmaster to rush here and tell us :),
>
> According to mutt, one of the mails you sent earlier today is 70K
> in size:
>
> https://lists.debian.org/debian-user/2022/06/msg00586.html
>
> Do you hear anyone complaining? You did not. The bandwidth usage is
> low and time to download it is minuscule. The wheels are greased in
> -user.
>
> However, you cheated and put a log file inline. Naughty :). Good
> sense reigns in -user, however, so no one begrudges it.
>
> You know that attachments of ~270K and 70K do not get through.
For the record, I had thought the log excerpts in the 70K email were likely to be just about acceptable inline - there was no attempt to send a ~70K attachment. Perhaps there should (or shouldn't) have been. I would find it difficult to consider 70K "large". With no guidance on the issues in eg monthly FAQ, this creates ambiguity and uncertainty.
There was quite a delay in both the 70K email and the message size limit question getting back to me, such that I thought both may have been dropped or held - first the former, hence the latter, and then still an unusually long wait. But such is email sometimes.
The lack of dropped/held feedback [1] (if messages even are held) along with ambiguity around message/attachment sizes, makes it difficult to judge what to do and when, if anything.
Best wishes,
Gareth
[1] "Another known limitation in our mailing list software is that most rejected e-mails get silently dropped, so the user has no real indication on what went wrong."
https://www.debian.org/MailingLists/
> Try
> ~50K next time and be aware that compression with gzip or xz is a
> option. Text files compress well.
>
> If 50K is rejected, no harm is done. Try again to find the upper
> limit.
>
> Attacments to a mailing list like -user are an efficient us of its
> services. Ephemeral info on other sites isn't of any value to users
> in the future.
>
> --
> Brian.
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