SpamAssassin
Welcome to our newest feature in Linux Magazine, the Project of the Month. If you’ve ever visited Freshmeat (http:// freshmeat.net) or SourceForge (http://sourceforge.net), the open source world’s two most popular software directories, you know that there are simply too many interesting projects to keep an eye on. Each month we will highlight one open source project selected by our editors.
Welcome to our newest feature in Linux Magazine, the Project of the Month. If you’ve ever visited Freshmeat (http:// freshmeat.net) or SourceForge (http://sourceforge.net), the open source world’s two most popular software directories, you know that there are simply too many interesting projects to keep an eye on. Each month we will highlight one open source project selected by our editors.
Project Summary
SpamAssassin (SA for short) is all about eliminating spam (unwanted e-mail). It’s a rapidly evolving suite of tools for detecting and filtering spam.
How It Works
At its core, SA is a library of Perl code that can apply a set of tests to an e-mail message and give it a score based on how many tests the message “passes.” The tests are written in a Perl-like format that should still be readable to the average Linux user.
A simple rule is illustrated in Figure One. The first line tells SA that this test, MAKE_MONEY_FAST, should only be applied to the message header — specifically, the Subject line. It checks if the message subject contains “Make Money Fast” no matter how the phrase is capitalized (the trailing i means the search is case-insensitive).
Figure One: A Simple SpamAssassin Rule |
