[Mailman-Users] GNU Mailman roadmap

Barry Warsaw barry at python.org
Mon Nov 2 03:52:41 CET 2009


As you know, Mailman 2.1 has long been in maintenance-only mode.   
Mailman 2.2 was where we were going to add new features and update the  
user interface, without changing the basic model.  Mailman 3 was where  
we were going to fix the model and modernize the architecture to allow  
for better embedded use.  Mark has been doing an incredible job fixing  
Mailman 2.1, and forward porting these fixes to Mailman 2.2.  I have  
been working on Mailman 3 and have released several alphas.

The current state of affairs is not ideal though.  Neither 2.2 nor 3.0  
has been released, there is confusion in the community as to which  
version to develop patches for, and frustration on our part that we  
have divided efforts and not as much community participation as we'd  
like.

Mark and I have decided therefore to combine our efforts under Mailman  
3, and we invite you to join us.  Working together, I feel confident  
that we can have a solid release of Mailman 3 very soon, hopefully by  
the end of the year.  Patrick Koetter and his group have expressed  
interest and resources in helping jump start the new Mailman user  
interface, which will be built on top of Mailman 3's REST interface.   
What do /you/ want to work on? :)

Here's the plan: Mark is going to put a 2.1.13 bug fix release out  
soon and will continue to fix only the most important bugs on the 2.1  
branch.  He'll forward port those fixes to the 2.2 branch for the few  
people who are running it from source, but there will never be a  
Mailman 2.2 release.  For all practical purposes, Mailman 2.2 is  
dead.  Mark will be joining me to focus all new development work on  
Mailman 3.0.

I hope this brings clarity to where we're going, and I hope that the  
renewed and concentrated efforts will encourage you to pull down the  
Mailman 3.0 code or alphas and begin testing and developing for it.

Enjoy,
-Barry

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