[Mailman-Users] Upgrading while including my customizations.

[Ben Burnett]

Hey All,

I'm currently running Python 1.5.2 and Mailman 2.0.3.  I've made some 
modifications to a few of the installed Mailman scripts and default 
templates.  I would like to upgrade to the latest Mailman version (2.0.6 
IIRC).  I know that some of you have been in this same position and I'm 
curious as to what advice you could give me in doing this.

I'm familiar with diff and patch, but not intimately.  It seems that what I 
need to do is create a diff of my changes against 2.0.3 source and then 
merge patches from 2.0.3 to 2.0.6 ( 2.0.3 to 2.0.4, 2.0.4 to 2.0.5, and 
2.0.5 to 2.0.6 IIRC corrections?) with my changes.  I'm wondering if anyone 
knows of a systematic way to do this.  I could plod through it hoping for 
the best, but the trick is to do it without lengthy interruptions to my 
list traffic (which to tell you the truth is right around zero, but I'm 
expecting it to grow and I need the practice upgrading).

I am aware of the "UPGRADING" file but it seems to have remained untouched 
since version 2.0.2. This file says that upgrading and deploying a new 
version won't touch the html templates for existing lists.  Does this still 
apply to the latest version?  What about the default template files?

Does anyone have any pointers for making this upgrade process easier?

Do you have a checklist?
Have you run across any specific gotchas while doing this?
Should I just try starting with a fresh install of 2.0.6 instead and 
migrate my lists over?
What steps should I take to make this easier in the future for when 2.1 is 
released?

pondering the inevitable,

- Ben