The Spam module spams meaningless entries into its log, namely scores of anonymous users. Since the anonymous users have not (and on my sites could not even have) entered anything, the Spam module should not have become active, much less spammed its own log. It is wasting computer resources and the time of the administrator who has to wade through this spam to find meaningful entries in the log.

Comments

jeremy’s picture

jeremy commented
Status: Active » Postponed (maintainer needs more info)

What are the erroneous messages that are being written to your watchdog? Can you provide some specific examples?

hgmichna’s picture

hgmichna commented

Are you saying that you do not get any log entries for the anonymous user? In that case something would be wrong on my side, but I cannot tell what.

Please note also that the log entries are only the last symptom. Since the anonymous users have not entered even a single byte on the web site, it makes no sense for example for the Bayes filter to do anything.

Excerpt of log entries:

user 0 2010-07-26 16:14 final average(40) anonymous trace | detail
user 0 2010-07-26 16:14 Bayesian filter: total(40) redirect() gain(50) anonymous trace | detail
user 0 2010-07-26 16:14 total(200) count(5) probability(40) anonymous trace | detail
user 0 2010-07-26 16:14 URL filter: total(0) redirect() gain(250) anonymous trace | detail
user 0 2010-07-26 16:14 Surbl filter: total(0) redirect() gain(250) anonymous trace | detail
user 0 2010-07-26 16:14 -- anonymous trace | detail
user 0 2010-07-26 14:20 final average(40) anonymous trace | detail
user 0 2010-07-26 14:20 Bayesian filter: total(40) redirect() gain(50) anonymous trace | detail
user 0 2010-07-26 14:20 total(240) count(6) probability(40) anonymous trace | detail
user 0 2010-07-26 14:20 URL filter: total(0) redirect() gain(250) anonymous trace | detail
user 0 2010-07-26 14:20 Surbl filter: total(0) redirect() gain(250) anonymous trace | detail
user 0 2010-07-26 14:20 -- anonymous trace | detail

hgmichna’s picture

hgmichna commented

Have long uninstalled the Spam module again. It is not properly maintained (look at all the old open issues), and it has gruesome defects. For example, on my sites it regularly destroyed data by showing me new postings with feedback, then letting them disappear when I approved. Horrible!

There are other defects of a severity that I would never allow to stay in any of my own projects. We have to write the Spam module project off, unfortunately.

What a pity! Its description came closest of all anti-spam modules to what I actually want.

gnassar’s picture

gnassar commented
Status: Postponed (maintainer needs more info) » Closed (cannot reproduce)