OK, the option is not missing, I was using it wrong. However, it still doesn't do anything! $ mailman -C /etc/mailman.cfg start --force usage: mailman [-h] [-v] [-C CONFIG] {info,status,help,withlist,start,unshunt,create,stop,remove,lists,reopen,version,import21,inject,members,qfile,restart,aliases} ... mailman: error: A previous run of GNU Mailman did not exit cleanly. Try using --force. -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Mailman Coders, which is subscribed to GNU Mailman. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/869317 Title: Mailman startup script missing --force option. To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/mailman/+bug/869317/+subscriptions