[GoLUG] Mailing list, long term.

[Ron]

Steve Litt wrote on 2025-08-14 18:52:

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

It's in a mbox file.

Run the "cleanarch" (?) utility that comes with Mailman2 on the mbox,
piping the output to another mbox file and rsync that daily.

There's a config.pck file that stores the list configuration.

Probably want to get a copy of that too. Then your entire list's
settings are in one place, easily read by Python.


> 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

What happens if someone else decides to take over the list? i.e.
moderate the current admin to not be allowed to post?

Or approve their spammer friend's account who then starts spamming?

i.e. where does the list config live and who controls it? Who bans spam 
addresses and how? How to prevent others from making changes?


With Mailman, users have the option to hide their email address from 
some levels of other users - say lurkers can hide that they've joined 
from other list members.

Everyone having everything needed to continue the list defeats that 
(minor issue).


>> 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.

My Thunderbird downloads (synchronizes) certain folders, yes, but it
also immediately picks up on what happens on the server, like when I run
Python scripts against files on the server - they appear immediately in
Thunderbird.

When you said:

> Dovecot serving a ginormous maildir

did you mean a ginormous mbox file?

That'd probably make anything balk.


Thunderbird can easily handle thousands of IMAP messages. People use it 
with hundreds of thousands of messages.

It's the mbox format that needs constant parsing to pull items out that 
is the issue.