[Mailman-Developers] Use of the mailing list during the application period

[Stephen J. Turnbull]

Hi!

First, let me thank you all for your applications.  I was a little
worried when were approved as an org ourselves, but we've got a bunch
of good ideas and nicely done applications here, so we aren't going to
have trouble filling our slots, I think.

Second, I don't necessarily speak for the other mentors, but I have a
reasonably good track record in channeling Barry and Mark and Terri at
least.  So judge for yourself if my "rules of the list" make sense for
you.

Now, to the main topic.  As I see it, you should use the mailing lists:

1.  *Before* you have filed an application at all.  (However, at this
    point I would suggest filing *something*.  Remember, we can't
    accept any student who is unknown to Melange no matter how much he
    or she contributes on the list.  We will make the decision based
    on what's on Melange at the deadline, and you can edit until
    then.)

2.  If Melange is unavailable.

3.  For asking about requirements.  What is it that Mailman doesn't do
    that it should?  What do subscribers, moderators, list owners and
    site admins want it to do?  What does it do that is annoying and
    should stop, or should be optional?  Of course your opinions are
    relevant, but in the end if you're the only user, you can fork and
    be happy.  So the lists are where you'll get opinions from real
    users, and know what will benefit the whole community.

4.  For communicating with others about parts of Mailman *not*
    directly related to your project, such as installation, testing,
    use of the VCS, how to write schedules, etc.

5.  To poke the mentors when they really seem to be asleep (no
    activity for 36-48 hours).

6.  (Maybe) To announce that your initial proposal has been posted.
    But see #1 under "should not".

7.  To announce "important" updates to your *blog* that may be of
    general interest.  For example, you could post your proposal there
    for non-mentors to see (I don't necessarily recommend that, see #2
    below).

You should *not* use the mailing lists, but rather use Melange:

1.  To announce updates to your proposal.  Mentors will get pings from
    Melange about changes to your proposal, and should be looking
    frequently anyway.  Other participants in the mailing list have no
    need to know and probably don't care to know.  And I'm really busy
    and getting a ton of mail right now, and so are several other
    mentors.  There's a good chance that anything on the list will get
    dropped on the floor if I don't address it right away.  I will be
    looking at all Mailman proposals (as well as some PSF and Systers
    proposals) daily in any case.

2.  To ask about design and scheduling issues.  There are two reasons
    for this.  First, most of you are concentrated on two or three
    projects, and so are competing with each other.  Personally, I
    give extra points to people who openly discuss their ideas in the
    spirit of "may the best proposal win", but realistically, you may
    not want to depend on that, and keep your proposal between you and
    the mentors until acceptance decisions are made.

    Second, this is the same division of responsibility as between MLs
    and issue trackers.  If you post to the ML and a mentor replies
    there, both the question and the answer stand a fair chance of
    getting dropped on the floor and not helping to improve your
    proposal.  If the Q & A take place in comments on the proposal, or
    even in the proposal itself, points that didn't get addressed
    early on will be right there for your later review, etc.

Hope this helps.

Steve