[GoLUG] Mailing list, long term.

[Steve Litt]

On Thu, 14 Aug 2025 17:42:21 -0700
Ron <ron at bclug.ca> wrote:

> Steve Litt wrote on 2025-08-14 17:21:
> 
> > If one LUG uses it, especially if that LUG is GoLUG, that's all the 
> > uptake I need.  
> 
> Fair enough!
> 
> 
> > As long as we have a functional email mailing list, GoLUG uses the 
> > functional email mailing list. If our email mailing list lasts 
> > forever, we use it forever.  
> 
> Also understood.
> 
> 
> > Problem is, GoLUG has a history of mailing list admins quitting, and
> > lots of problems every time this happened. Mailman adminning is a
> > difficult, time consuming, and thankless job. We need MindMeld in 
> > case we encounter a time when nobody can admin Mailman.  
> 
> With the end of life of Mailman2 (about *five* years ago), and
> Mailman3 being potentially the most overly complicated software
> package I've ever encountered:
> 
> > Tasks: 16 (limit: 6972)  <-- *all* python interpreters
> > 
> > Memory: 385.5M  
> 
> *plus* the web interface, REST API, etc:
> 
> > Tasks: 15 (limit: 6972)
> > 
> > Memory: 391.0M  
> 
> it'd be great if there were a viable alternate, particularly if it
> could import existing mailing list archives!

If Mailman can export its archive, they can probably be turned into a
MindMeld tree.

Once formatted as a MindMeld tree, anybody can grab the tree with
rsync as a backup, and if the admin quits or gets run over by a truck,
the next admin can set up MindMeld with an untar, an edit of a conf
file, and installation of the runit run file include in the tarball.
Those with other inits can surely figure out how to create their own s6
run script, sysvinit init script, systemd unit file, or additional
paragraph to Epoch's config file.


> > My findings on Thunderbird is that it's non-functional when 
> > connected to an IMAP server with tens of thousands of messages, 
> > which was my situation.  
> 
> I'm not sure how many messages I have, but some go back to the 1990s
> (they may be in local folders though).
> 
> However, with Gmail going back to "invite only" days + other Gmails, ½
> dozen other IMAP accounts, calendars synchronized to multiple
> accounts / servers, contacts synchronized to multiple accounts /
> servers... I must have tens of thousands of IMAP messages.
> 
> And Thunderbird these days handles it like a champ (pro tip: choose
> Maildir for local storage too).

I see what's going on. Your Thunderbird downloads from IMAP and stores
in Thunderbird archives. My Thunderbird (or Claws or Evolution) is
simply a window into a local Dovecot serving a ginormous maildir. Your
way works with Thunderbird, mine doesn't.

SteveT

Steve Litt 
Spring 2023 featured book: Troubleshooting Techniques of the Successful
Technologist http://www.troubleshooters.com/techniques