[vote] Create private mailing list for OpenWrt committers

[Rich Brown]

+1 for me. Thanks.

> On Apr 3, 2025, at 16:49, Hauke Mehrtens <hauke at hauke-m.de> wrote:
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> I propose creating a new mailing list that only OpenWrt committers can read. All OpenWrt committers should be subscribed by default, and it should be possible to send messages to the list without requiring a subscription. Additionally, this list should replace the current abuse at openwrt.org and contact at openwrt.org addresses handling with freescout.openwrt.org.
> 
> This would be similar to the old openwrt-hackers at lists.openwrt.org
> 
> Please vote Yes or +1 if you support the creation of this list.
> 
> I will conclude the vote on 26th April 2025.
> 
> 
> Rationale:
> 
> Currently, some of the project's internal communication happens through direct emails, Signal, or small private groups. While some discussions should remain private, they shouldn’t be limited to a highly selective subset of individuals. A dedicated internal mailing list would provide a structured way to handle sensitive topics without resorting to fragmented, ad-hoc communication.
> 
> Public discussions and voting should still take place on openwrt-adm, and key management topics (e.g., release planning) should remain there. However, we may also want to consider merging openwrt-adm and openwrt-devel to streamline communication, but the merger is out of scope of this vote.
> 
> From an operational standpoint, responding to external inquiries is often challenging. I hesitate to CC a public mailing list without explicit permission, but I’d have no issue including a private list. This would improve transparency while maintaining appropriate confidentiality.
> 
> Additionally, organizing OpenWrt meetings via direct emails to ~40 committers is inefficient and prone to missing recipients. A dedicated mailing list would simplify coordination.
> 
> Finally, freescout.openwrt.org was broken for about six months, causing all incoming emails from this period to be lost. While it is now functional, it appears nobody is reading the mails. A dedicated private list would provide a more reliable channel for handling such inquiries.
> We are getting more than one spam mail per day on freescout, the spam filter on the mailling list is working much better.
> 
> Hauke
> 
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