From LQWiki

spam or SPAM: Unsolicited (bulk) email, usually commercial in nature, and usually sent in vast quantities through open relays to email addresses that have been harvested from websites, and (apparently) distributed on CDs. The electronic equivalent of postal junk mail, but more annoying. Spam derives its name from an amusing sketch by 1970s British surrealist comedians Monty Python's Flying Circus, in which the word "Spam" (referring to the meat product) is repeated ad infinitum and with increasing insistence.

Spammers do not appear to have been greatly dissuaded by recent laws banning unsolicited commercial email in both the US and Europe. However, there are techniques and software available for Linux that can be used to make spam less of a nuisance.

How to decrease spam

• Spam Filtering
• Greylisting
• Is your mail server used as spambot ?

External links

• Article on SPAM at Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)