Re: Policy for expiring lists WAS: Idea for a secondary list server

On 02/27/2015 01:36 AM, Josh Berkus wrote:
> On 02/24/2015 01:32 PM, Alvaro Herrera wrote:
>> Josh Berkus wrote:
>>
>>> All this points to is the need for a solid termination policy,
>>> preferably one which is automated so people don't get the chance to
>>> argue about it.
>>
>> Fine with me.  Then I feel more comfortable creating additional PUG
>> lists.
> 
> OK, here's my proposal:
> 
> * Mailing lists with more than 6 months of total inactivity will be
> automatically terminated.
> * Mailing lists with fewer than 20 posts in a year will be automatically
> terminated.
> * "Is anyone here?" posts are not considered activity.
> * When terminating a list, one of the admins or the list owner will post
> a last message to that list informing users about it's imminent
> termination.  Not so they can rescue the list, but just so they don't
> wonder where it went.

all nice and clear - but who is going to check whether lists fall under
that termination rule or not on a regular base? Are you volunteering?

Also to put some numbers to this - we currently have 35 PUG lists, out
of those only 5(6 if the cutoff would be 10) would make the cut per the
above rules and only 13(!) had more than a single mail in all of 2014.
There have been only 268 mails in total over all of those 35 lists.

> 
> One question is: for terminated lists, what is our policy/practice on
> archives?

dont think we have one

> 
> For example, I'd like to terminate the SFPUG list.  Given that we have
> Meetup, RSS *and* Twitter, we really don't need it anymore.  However,
> I'm reluctant to delete the archives.

uh isnt that actually _the_ prime example why we dont actually need more
lists? If a PUG as large and successful as SFPUG does not need one
because there are better ways to coordinate a PUG and make it successful
why are we not promoting those?
Per the above numbers it is obvious that we dont need more mailing lists
but what we need is a solid set of recommendations on how to run a
successful pug and what tools to use for that (wiki?).

> 
> A second question: what about reactivating lists?
> 
> Example: SLCPUG stops meeting and their list goes dead.  We terminate
> the list but keep the archives.  Two years later, a new community member
> wants to re-organize SLCPUG.  Do we have a way to give them a list which
> will archive to the same place?

dont think there is any technical issue with doing it that way but again
I have some doubts that it is actually needed at all.


Stefan