gentoo.org mailing list transition

gentoo.org mailing list transition

[Daniel Robbins]

Hi All,

Gentoo.org has transitioned to a new mail and mailing list system. Please read
on for more information.

Essential information for all users:
====================================

* Mailing lists have been moved from mailman to ezmlm-idx
* Our new mailing lists don't have [gentoo-foo] headers
* You are subscribed to all your old lists (non-digest mode, see later)

* Ezmlm-idx does not use passwords; you talk to it via email
* Our old archives *have been preserved and transitioned to the new system :)*
* Mail archives (lists.gentoo.org) will be back up in a few days

* gentooppc-dev@gentoo.org is now gentoo-ppc-dev@gentoo.org
* gentooppc-user@gentoo.org is now gentoo-ppc-user@gentoo.org

About the new system (why/what):
================================

Our current mail (and everything else) server is being retired. For this
reason, it was necessary to transition to a new server. The longer we waited,
the more one of our developers (kabau) had to pay in bandwidth fees, so the
move had to happen quickly.

The new mail system uses qmail and ezmlm-idx, which were chosen for their
ruggedness, simplicity and low overhead. There are other good choices (postfix
and exim come to mind) out there, but qmail and ezmlm-idx suited our needs
quite well.

The new mail system will be able to provide higher message sending bandwidth
and concurrency and should result in better mail performance for all users.

How to get funky with ezmlm-idx:
================================

Q: I like to read. Is there an ezmlm user manual?

A: Yes. See http://www.ezmlm.org/ezman-0.32/ezman1.html

Q: How do I subscribe to a list?

A: Send an email to (can be empty):
	listname-subscribe@gentoo.org

Q: I was subscribed in digest mode, and now I'm in "normal" mode for my
"gentoo-foo" list! What do I do?

A: First, unsubscribe from the "gentoo-foo" list and then re-subscribe to
"gentoo-foo-digest". This can be done by sending two emails to the following
email addresses (they can be empty):
	gentoo-foo-unsubscribe@gentoo.org
	gentoo-foo-digest-subscribe@gentoo.org
Voila! You're now in digest mode!

Q: My mailman account was marked "dormant" (ie. off,) but ezmlm has me
activated and I'm receiving mail, which I don't want. What should I do?

A: Best approach is to simply unsubscribe from the list:
	listname-unsubscribe@gentoo.org
Then, when you want to receive mail again, subscribe to the list:
	listname-subscribe@gentoo.org
 
Q: All the lists are subscriber-only. How to I enable an alias so that I can
post to the list from an alternate email account?

Ezmlm-idx supports this feature. See:
http://www.ezmlm.org/ezman-0.32/ezman2.html#ss2.4

Q: http://lists.gentoo.org shows the main Gentoo Linux site.

A: I know. http://lists.gentoo.org will show are new list archive system when
it is ready.

Q: The mailing list emails don't have "[gentoo-foo]" headers in the subject
line! How do I filter my emails into the correct folder?

A: Try this procmail recipe (thanks to Tom Veldhouse):
:0
* ^List-Post:.*gentoo-user@gentoo.org.*
.maildir/.Linux.Gentoo.User/

If you are using a mail client that can't filter on non-standard fields, then 
match "listname@gentoo.org" in the To: or CC: fields.

-- 
Daniel Robbins                                  <drobbins@gentoo.org>
Chief Architect/President                       http://www.gentoo.org 
Gentoo Technologies, Inc.

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