Hi.

I have a Windows 2003 "Pro" VPS at HMS. 2GB RAM, 100GB storage, and SmarterMail 5.5. This VPS does everything I need it to do, except for mailing lists.

Can I get your thoughts about mailing list solutions for a Windows VPS?

I have clients who need mailing list solutions. By mailing list, I mean, email discussion group. I use the mailing list application that is bundled with SmarterMail 5.5. That works, but the clients do not like it b/c, in DIGEST mode, the SmarterMail mailing list does not automatically edit replies to replies.

Meaning -- DIGEST subscribers receive, at the end of the day, a Digest that is packed with subscribers' replies to each other's replies. I don't see any way to edit this behavior -- in either the clients or the software. =)

So, I am thinking about installing Lyris or LISTSERV software. These are big installation packages and each has a large system footprint.

Has anybody else installed Lyris or LISTSERV on a windows VPS? Or any other mailing list that is more configurable than the barebone mailing list that is bundled with SmarterMail?

Thanks for any ideas.

This forum continues to be a great resource. I am grateful for it.

Eric

Eric,

I'd be interested to know what you end up using and how well it suits your needs.

Jaime,

So far, I've got no solution. I would install LISTSERV on my VPS, but am deterred by

1. the system footprint of LISTSERV

2. the price -- it's expensive. LISTSERV classic, and the license for support and upgrades, will set me back $3000 give or take. That's a tax writeoff at the end of the year, but, still, it's a big out of pocket expense

On the other hand I was a LISTSERV administrator for a number of years and I know it is a very good program. You can adjust almost every imaginable aspect of mailing list message delivery.

I'm still considering this. If I can round up enough clients who need mailing lists then I might take the plunge.

I will keep you posted. Thanks for your interest. Hope you're great.

Eric

I use SmarterMail for mailling lists with no problem. But I don't use the built in functionality. I wrote my own asp.net application that manages the maillists. It just relays the messages to Smartermail, then smartermail's queue handles them from there. I suspect you are going to have to write your own script to manage your sends.

whitesites, I think you are right. I've been thinking about this. Thanks very much for your reply.

Eric

It's funny because I've done the same on a smaller scale and didn't think to mention it. I used ColdFusion in my case, but the theory remains. It helps that Smartermail stores it's user list in an easy to get to format.