Re: newbie spam filtering with gnus

[Steven Arntson <steven@stevenarntson.com>]

Enrico Schumann <es@enricoschumann.net> writes:

> On Thu, 02 Apr 2015, Steven Arntson <steven@stevenarntson.com> writes:
>
>> Enrico Schumann <es@enricoschumann.net> writes:
>>
>>> On Wed, 01 Apr 2015, Steven Arntson <steven@stevenarntson.com> writes:
>>>> Is there any sort of simple "starter kit" for newcomers getting going on
>>>> filtering out spam?
>>>>
>>>> Thank you for any advice aimed at a not-very-technical person!
>>>> -steven
>>>>
>>>
>>> When I used POP some years ago, what worked out of the box for me was
>>> using SpamAssassin as an external programme (spamc) during splitting, as
>>> described in the manual:
>>>
>>> http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/gnus/SpamAssassin.html
>>>
>>> To quote from the relevant section:
>>>
>>> ,----
>>> | [A] solution is to call the external tools during splitting. Example
>>> | fancy split method:
>>> | 
>>> |   (setq nnmail-split-fancy '(| (: kevin-spamassassin)
>>> |                                ...))
>>> | 
>>> |   (defun kevin-spamassassin ()
>>> |     (save-excursion
>>> |       (save-restriction
>>> |         (widen)
>>> |         (if (eq 1 (call-process-region (point-min) (point-max)
>>> |                                        "spamc" nil nil nil "-c"))
>>> |             "spam"))))
>>> `----
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Kind regards,
>>>      Enrico
>>
>> Thank you for this---I've read, or tried to, the page you've referenced,
>> though it's far over my head. I put the code above into my .gnus.el
>> file. However, I really am in the dark! For instance, is the `...' in
>> the second line of that code an ellipsis telling me to put my own items
>> in there, or is it active code that should be preserved? Do I really use
>> "kevin-spamassassin" or am I to change that to something that has to do
>> with my own system? At present, the code isn't doing anything as far as
>> I can tell.
>
> [Caveat: I cannot test what I describe below since I do not use this
>  setup any more.]
>
> First, make sure that SpamAssassin is installed on your system. For
> instance, open a terminal and type 'spamc -V', and it should tell you
> the installed version.
>
> Then, in your .gnus.el, add something like this:
>
>   (setq nnmail-split-methods 'nnmail-split-fancy
>         nnmail-split-fancy '(| (: kevin-spamassassin)
>                                "catchall.inbox"))
>
> In which "catchall.inbox" is the group to which all non-spam mails go.
>
> Also add the function kevin-spamassassin, as given in the manual (and
> above). The "spam" in the last line of the function is the group to
> which spam emails go.
>
> Good luck.
>
> [And you may rename 'kevin-spamassassin' as you wish, as long as you
> also use that name with 'nnmail-split-fancy'.]

Spamc -V does give me a version number, so that seems to be working. I
added the code you recommended, so the full splitting/spam-oriented
lines of my .gnus are:

| (setq nnmail-split-methods 'nnmail-split-fancy
|       nnmail-split-fancy '(| (: kevin-spamassassin)
|                              "mail.misc"))
|  
| (defun kevin-spamassassin ()
|   (save-excursion
|     (save-restriction
|       (widen)
|       (if (eq 1 (call-process-region (point-min) (point-max)
|                                      "spamc" nil nil nil "-c"))
|           "spam"))))

I can receive mail still---all seems to be working, but no spams have
yet been filtered. Are there steps I need to take directly with
Spamassassin to get it working?

Thank you very much for all of your help here! This is the farthest I've
yet gotten with this.

-steven