[Mailman-Developers] Future of pipermail?

[Barry A. Warsaw]

>>>>> "CVR" == Chuq Von Rospach <chuqui@plaidworks.com> writes:

    CVR> Does mailman have to an an integrated archiver? Isn't this
    CVR> another variant of the "integrated MTA" discussion?

    CVR> I'd prefer, honestly, splitting out pipermail (or it's
    CVR> successor) into a separately tracked project, and building a
    CVR> standard interface that will work with it and with other
    CVR> archivers, like Mhonarc. That way, a separate team can be
    CVR> built to work on Pipermail, and releases of each piece don't
    CVR> have to be wedged into the same schedule, and you simplify
    CVR> the complexity of each project to improve focus....

This could probably work.

I do want an archiver that I can bundle with releases (let's say final
releases primarily) because it's just so much easier for newbies to
get started if they have everything they need.  They already have the
burden of having to download and install Python (and maybe a web
server and an MTA), so reducing the number of components you need to
get started is a good thing.  For all it's flaws, Pipermail provides
an essential service with no extra work (it'd be nice to also have a
bundled search solution).

OTOH, I think we can handle it similar to the way Python does it's
rpms or windows installers and add-ons like readline and Tk.  We find
a stable version of the archiver and bundle it in the big releases,
but beta users may have to do more work.

>>>>> "NM" == Nigel Metheringham <Nigel.Metheringham@VData.co.uk> writes:

    NM> Maybe.  There are times when I would really love to have
    NM> archive message id or URL references in messages for example -

    CVR> But does that imply it has to be integrated into mailman? Or
    CVR> just available.

    CVR> The only reason I see for it to be fully integrated is if we
    CVR> want to add a header pointing to the article in the archive
    CVR> -- that would require archive processing during
    CVR> delivery.

Maybe not, if we define an API that Mailman can ask the archiver,
"give me a url for message-id XYZ".

-Barry