DIY Spam Filter in Python

[Peter Ballard]

Hi all,

I've no idea if this will be of any use to anyone. But since I've gone
to the effort of writing it, I might as well make it publicly
available...

Until last year, spam filtering was a source of frustration for me.
Freeware packages I tried (specifically, spamassassin and dspam) were
difficult to use. Custom rules using procmail were a pain.

Then I noticed that python came with email parsing capabilities in the
email module. So I thought that maybe custom rules in python would be
easier than (a) custom rules in procmail, or (b) deciphering the
documentation of a package. And a lot more fun.

It turned out to be very easy. I got the filter up in a few evenings,
and I've been using it successfully, and slowly enhancing it, over a
number of months.

In short: a success story for "using the batteries" - at least in my
opinion.

Source code, and a bit of documentation, is at:
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~pballard/diyspamfilter.html

--
Regards,

Peter Ballard
Adelaide, AUSTRALIA
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~pballard/

 

[Tim Churches]

I've no idea if this will be of any use to anyone. But since I've gone
to the effort of writing it, I might as well make it publicly
available...

Until last year, spam filtering was a source of frustration for me.
Freeware packages I tried (specifically, spamassassin and dspam) were
difficult to use. Custom rules using procmail were a pain.

Then I noticed that python came with email parsing capabilities in the
email module. So I thought that maybe custom rules in python would be
easier than (a) custom rules in procmail, or (b) deciphering the
documentation of a package. And a lot more fun.

It turned out to be very easy. I got the filter up in a few evenings,
and I've been using it successfully, and slowly enhancing it, over a
number of months.

In short: a success story for "using the batteries" - at least in my
opinion.

Source code, and a bit of documentation, is at:
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~pballard/diyspamfilter.html

--
Regards,

Peter Ballard
Adelaide, AUSTRALIA
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~pballard/

Pete mate,

Nice work, but your Web page on your DIY Spam Filter doesn't mention
SpamBayes, which is surely the definitive Pythonic spam filter, as well
as being eerily effective - see http://spambayes.sourceforge.net

Not sure that the Reverend Bayes would have agreed with your theology -
a bit too post-modern for him, no doubt, but he was nevertheless a
lovely little thinker.

Tim C

 

[pballard]

Peter Ballard wrote: [snip]

Source code, and a bit of documentation, is at:
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~pballard/diyspamfilter.html

Pete mate,

Nice work, but your Web page on your DIY Spam Filter doesn't mention
SpamBayes, which is surely the definitive Pythonic spam filter, as well
as being eerily effective - see http://spambayes.sourceforge.net

Yeah, I found out about SpamBayes a while ago, but it was after I
already had my DIY filter up and running.

--
Regards,

Peter Ballard
Adelaide, AUSTRALIA
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~pballard/

 

[Damien Wyart]

* (e-mail address removed) (Peter Ballard) in comp.lang.python:

Source code, and a bit of documentation, is at:
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~pballard/diyspamfilter.html

BTW, 2 of the 3 files are links, so missing from the tar archive...

 

[Peter Ballard]

* (e-mail address removed) (Peter Ballard) in comp.lang.python:

BTW, 2 of the 3 files are links, so missing from the tar archive...

Sigh. Murphy's Law strikes again.

The tar file is fixed now.