Re: [B.A.T.M.A.N.] mailing list migration (was: development flow)

Jacob Marble
2009-09-30T05:39:21Z

>> I think that having two lists would be a hassle and a mistake.  To
>> have two lists at one host might work, but one list at VGER and
>> another somewhere else could be counter-productive, as "internal"
>> communication would be constantly forwarded to the kernel list, and
>> relevant kernel traffic would have to be forwarded back to the
>> "internal" list.  Think about that for a second.  Eventually, we would
>> probably just drop one list.
>>
>> If one list is O(n), then two lists are O(n^2) for anyone who needs
>> both.  I vote for one list, no matter where it's hosted.
> Don't understand the calculation as I would prefer + instead of * here, but
> this isn't the point (and if you would do program a bad matching algorithm
> here it is still O(M*N) ).
> Don't think that two lists are good without a good topic split. I see a reason
> for -devel, -users and -announcements list in some projects, but not for a
> list for "kernel people" and for "other people".
...
> Haven't followed the whole discussion, but is it real such a big problem to
> change the mailing list address? OK, it shouldn't be done every week, but this
> is done for a good reason. Just do an announcement on this list and create an
> auto reply (smtp failure notice with further information) when someone writes
> to the old list.

I agree with all of this. My point is that multiple lists should at
least be hosted at the same place. The topic split is a good point,
too; if there were two -devel lists, I think all of the developers
would eventually use the "kernel people" list exclusively.

> Maybe more interesting is the fact that if we can import old information into
> the new list. I think mailman stores everything in simple mboxes, or am I
> wrong?
> And also interesting if we can do backups of the data on vger and co.

Just looked at the VGER website, and they use majordomo. I don't know
much about these things; can mailman data be imported to majordomo? A
quick look around reveals no email addresses to contact them, other
than some that seem to be spambot honeypots.

What do we need in order to make a decision? I would like to get this
transition happening soon so that real work can move forward.

Jacob