Improving the Direct E-Mail Interface with Lyris

By: Kevin Reichard
Thursday, December 9, 1999 10:36:45 AM EST
URL: http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/reviews/1323/1/

Can Be Used Free of Charge for Smaller Lists

What constitutes spam in this day and age is a matter of deep debate within the Internet industry. Still, there's no denying that e-mail marketing is one of the most effective tools when a company or organization wants to directly communicate with customers and interested parties, so the challenge is to effectively manage e-mail while giving end users the power to control what appears in their in-boxes.

That's why older tools like listserv and majordomo are increasingly viewed as being inappropriate for the needs of today's Internet users. To fully manage mailing lists, you'll need something more advanced.

We looked at a beta Linux version of Lyris, a relatively inexpensive list server that allows serving of several types of mailing lists, from announcements to open discussion forums to moderated discussion groups to auto-responder "doc-bots" (the same type of auto-responder feature found in many of the better e-mail clients). The server's best selling point is that it can be used at no cost by small businesses for creating an unlimited number of mailing lists. The only restriction when using Lyris as freeware is that a maximum of 200 members are allowed per list.

Of Lyris's many features, perhaps the best is its Web-based interface, which gives administrators the ability to make configuration and administration changes over the Web. The interface allows users to read, contribute, search, join and leave mailing lists over the Net. Users also have the option of choosing to receive their messages from Lyris mailing lists by regular e-mail or through direct Web access.

This Web functionality makes Lyris easy to use for both end users and system administrators, especially sysadmins who don't want to work with the sometimes cryptic commands found in many list management tools. Let's face it--most users aren't that thrilled with sending cryptic e-mail messages totally devoid of content and containing only the words "subscribe/unsubscribe" in the subject line. Neither are administrators who must handle misaddressed mail by hand. With Lyris, end users can connect to a Web page, enter a username and password, and make changes to their e-mail arrangements. If you want a glimpse at how Lyris handles mailing lists, check out this Web site.

System administrators will appreciate how duties can be delegated within Lyris. Each mailing list can have a designated List Administrator who can add and remove members of the group as well as approve moderated messages. On a higher level, Site Administrators create and remove whole mailing lists, as well as create documents and auto-responders. Site administrators can also disable mailing lists and limit a list's size. Finally, the Server Administrator oversees and creates sites, with control over all things that affect them on their servers.

Security, Performance Stressed

Additional features in Lyris include an extremely fast mail engine capable of delivering hundreds of messages per second, automatic e-mail error detection, an installation wizard, automatic message archiving, fast text-based searching capabilities for the mailing list archives, multithreading capabilities (offers better performance when the server is used in multiple CPU configurations), extensive logging capabilities, numerous moderation options (for moderated discussion groups), server action phrases (customized auto-responders with tailored responses based on the content of messages), optional ODBC database connectivity, and support for virtual hosts (which allows multiple organizations to share one Lyris server while appearing to users to be on separate, distinct servers).

Security features include three different security roles (list, site, and server) which allow one to define separate rights and responsibilities for each type of administrator, password protection for all administrative functions, optional password protection for mailing list members and TCP/IP address mapping which enables the administrator to restrict functions to specific IP addresses (internal and satellite office use only, for example).

As is the case with most aspects of Lyris, support for the server is top-of-the-line. An extremely useful comprehensive user's manual in HTML format is included with the server; the 556-page manual is also available in its entirety from the Lyris Help Web Site. There is also a detailed Programmer's Manual for those who want to add additional functionality. The Web site also offers a listing of FAQs, an On-Line Tech Support Assistant and an e-mail support address for specific questions. In addition, there are German, French, Dutch and Japanese versions.

Overall, Lyris is an affordable yet powerful list server solution that is sure to please entry-level and high-end enterprises alike. Lyris is also priced right for enterprises whose needs exceed the freeware limitation of 200 members per list. It's offered in four packages ranging from the $495 Silver Plan (limited to 500 members per list) to the $4,995 Platinum Plus Plan (unlimited members per list and an enhanced, ultra high-performance mail sending engine)--targeted at enterprises with high traffic list needs where each mailing list exceeds 10,000 members. An enhanced version of the server is also available that allows mailing lists to be accessed as secure, private newsgroups.

Lyris MultiView List Server is available under the same plans as the standard server, but prices range from $795 for the Silver Plan to $7495 for the Platinum Plus Plan. Prospective users of the MultiView version can check it out in demonstration form when downloaded with the standard server.