[vote] Create private mailing list for OpenWrt committers

[Hauke Mehrtens]

On 4/3/25 22:49, Hauke Mehrtens 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
> 
> _______________________________________________
> openwrt-adm mailing list
> openwrt-adm at lists.openwrt.org
> https://lists.openwrt.org/mailman/listinfo/openwrt-adm

Hi,

I close the vote now.

The vote failed, we will continue to use only -adm for communication and 
sometimes private communion with subgroups.

Details can be found here:
https://openwrt.org/voting/2025-04-04-private-mailing-list

Hauke