<div dir="ltr">HI Joseph,<div><br></div><div>Couple of things to note here:</div><div><br></div><div>1) Some of these mailing lists deliberately have archiving disabled, so Mailman's archives cannot be relied on to determine if a list is still active or not. This is particularly the case for *-bugs mailing lists. I should note though that there is alternative functionality within Bugzilla that can replicate this functionality, so a mailing list does not have to be used here (although some may prefer this for their email filters)</div><div><br></div><div>2) Some of these lists are certainly defunct (kde-dashboard for one) and can definitely be closed down</div><div><br></div><div>3) Some of the lists are commit filter lists which are no longer operating (khtml-cvs for one) and should be archived.</div><div><br></div><div>Cheers,</div><div>Ben</div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Fri, Apr 28, 2023 at 9:52 AM Joseph P. De Veaugh-Geiss <<a href="mailto:joseph@kde.org">joseph@kde.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">Cross-posting to the relevant mailing lists.<br>
<br>
To discuss, please answer to <a href="mailto:kde-community@kde.org" target="_blank">kde-community@kde.org</a>.<br>
<br>
tl;dr There are several inactive or unused lists of the 181 mailing <br>
lists at KDE. What do we want to do with them?<br>
<br>
This is a post about inactive or unused mailing lists. For a general <br>
discussion about (active) mailing lists at KDE, please start a new <br>
thread or wait until I address that, likely in the very near future.<br>
<br>
_Inactive Mailing Lists_<br>
<br>
For a better understanding of what works and what needs improvement in <br>
KDE's internal communications, I started by looking at the 181 mailing <br>
lists publicly listed at:<br>
<br>
<a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/</a><br>
<br>
Here I see 51 mailing lists which might be considered inactive, some of <br>
which were never used at all. There may be more to add to this upon <br>
further inspection, but these seem like a good place to start.<br>
<br>
By inactive I mean there has been very low or no activity in the past <br>
2-3 years at least, and for most lists the last post was 4+ years ago. <br>
For several of these lists, there are long gaps in activity, often with <br>
no community responses to the most recent posts.<br>
<br>
The 51 mailing lists are included at the end of this email.<br>
<br>
Importantly, I know a list with infrequent activity is *not* the same as <br>
a list that has no activity. Some communities do not need regular <br>
communication for that community to be active. If you see your <br>
community's mailing list here and think it is a mistake, please let me <br>
know! My apologies in advance if this is the case.<br>
<br>
Crucially, do not interpret an inactive mailing list to mean a project <br>
is inactive. It only means the mailing list is not a frequently used <br>
channel of communication. There are many other channels for community <br>
discussion (e.g., Matrix, Discuss, etc.).<br>
<br>
_Some Questions To The KDE Community_<br>
<br>
* What do we want to do with inactive or unused mailing lists?<br>
<br>
* Is there a policy for retiring inactive lists? I didn't see anything <br>
at the Community Wiki. [1]<br>
<br>
* Does KDE have internal infrastructure to archive mailing lists for <br>
posterity? I see kwrite-devel [2] archived old posts at the "Mailing <br>
list ARChives" [3].<br>
<br>
* Do we want to nudge traffic from low activity mailing lists to <br>
somewhere with generally higher activity (specifically, I am thinking <br>
Discuss)? I can imagine being in a more active online space could <br>
increase general participation for otherwise low activity groups.<br>
<br>
_Inactive Lists: To Close Or Not To Close_<br>
<br>
I am sure there are reasons both for and against closing mailing lists. <br>
Here are just some reasons I can think of to close inactive ones:<br>
<br>
* The more communication channels there are, the more fractured KDE's <br>
communication is.<br>
<br>
* It may not be obvious to new (or even old) contributors that a list <br>
is no longer in use, resulting in wasted energy signing up for an <br>
inactive one.<br>
<br>
* Trying to engage with an inactive list may reduce motivation for <br>
futher contributions from members, especially when posts go unanswered.<br>
<br>
* Moving some communities to more lively platforms may increase their <br>
overall activity.<br>
<br>
* There could be a slight efficiency/ecological benefit for KDE's <br>
server infrastructure by removing or deactivating unused services.<br>
<br>
Pleae keep in mind: I am not judging the value of any particular group <br>
by pointing out low activity, or arguing we need to close any specific <br>
list. If there is a reason -- any reason at all -- to keep a list open, <br>
then let's keep it open! I myself like mailing lists for various forms <br>
of communication (announcements, long-form discussion, information which <br>
I want to archive locally for future reference, etc.).<br>
<br>
If I made any mistakes in my summary here, please let me know. It is a <br>
challenge to go through 181 lists and not make any errors, though I <br>
tried my best not to.<br>
<br>
I look forward to reading your thoughts and suggestions!<br>
<br>
Cheers,<br>
Joseph<br>
<br>
[1] <a href="https://community.kde.org/Infrastructure/Mailing-Lists" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://community.kde.org/Infrastructure/Mailing-Lists</a><br>
[2] <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kwrite-devel" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kwrite-devel</a><br>
[3] <a href="https://marc.info/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://marc.info/</a><br>
<br>
# Overview<br>
<br>
Of the 181 mailing lists listed publicly, I found the following:<br>
<br>
* 12 are lists that have never been used and 1 was already closed<br>
* 27 are potentially-inactive general lists<br>
* 11 are potentially-inactive language or country-specific lists<br>
<br>
# Unused / Closed Mailing Lists [13 Lists]<br>
<br>
## Never Used [12 lists] ("No messages have been posted to this list <br>
yet, so the archives are currently empty.")<br>
<br>
* Calligra-author: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/calligra-author" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/calligra-author</a><br>
* Cantor-bugs: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/cantor-bugs" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/cantor-bugs</a><br>
* Gcompris-espanol: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/gcompris-espanol" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/gcompris-espanol</a><br>
* Kde-dashboard: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-dashboard" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-dashboard</a><br>
* kde-games-bugs: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-games-bugs" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-games-bugs</a><br>
* Kde-i18n-it: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-i18n-it" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-i18n-it</a><br>
* Kde-l10n-my: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-l10n-my" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-l10n-my</a><br>
* Kde-l10n-sw: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-l10n-sw" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-l10n-sw</a><br>
* KDE-Look: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-look" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-look</a><br>
* Kde-partnership: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-partnership" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-partnership</a><br>
* Kdepim-builds: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kdepim-builds" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kdepim-builds</a><br>
* neon-bugs: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/neon-bugs" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/neon-bugs</a><br>
<br>
## Officially Closed [1 list]<br>
<br>
* kde-nonlinux: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-nonlinux" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-nonlinux</a><br>
<br>
# Inactive General Lists [27 lists]<br>
<br>
## Currently Inactive With Almost No Previous Activity [5 lists]<br>
<br>
* kde-artists: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-artists" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-artists</a><br>
* Heaptrack: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/heaptrack" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/heaptrack</a><br>
* CuteHMI: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/cutehmi" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/cutehmi</a><br>
* Khtml-cvs: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/khtml-cvs" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/khtml-cvs</a><br>
* Cki-attendees: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/cki-attendees" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/cki-attendees</a><br>
<br>
## Currently Inactive With Low Previous Activity [2 lists]<br>
<br>
* Snorenotify: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/snorenotify" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/snorenotify</a><br>
* KXStitch: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kxstitch" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kxstitch</a><br>
<br>
## Currently Inactive But Previously Active [16 lists]<br>
<br>
* Choquk-devel: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/choqok-devel" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/choqok-devel</a><br>
* Kde-embedded: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-embedded" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-embedded</a><br>
* Kde-buildsystem: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-buildsystem" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-buildsystem</a><br>
* WikiToLearn: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitolearn" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitolearn</a><br>
* Marble-commits: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/marble-commits" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/marble-commits</a><br>
* Ksecretservice-devel: <br>
<a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/ksecretservice-devel" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/ksecretservice-devel</a><br>
* KDE-Telepathy: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-telepathy" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-telepathy</a><br>
* Kde-speech: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-speech" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-speech</a><br>
* Kexi: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kexi" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kexi</a><br>
* Enterprise: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/enterprise" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/enterprise</a><br>
* Marble: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/marble" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/marble</a><br>
* kde-women: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-women" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-women</a><br>
* kde-usa: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-usa" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-usa</a><br>
* kopete-devel: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kopete-devel" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kopete-devel</a><br>
* Kde-scm-interest: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-scm-interest" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-scm-interest</a><br>
* Kexi-devel: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kexi-devel" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kexi-devel</a><br>
<br>
## No Activity In 7+ Years [4 lists]<br>
<br>
* SymbolEditor: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/symboleditor" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/symboleditor</a><br>
* Gcompris-portugues: <br>
<a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/gcompris-portugues" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/gcompris-portugues</a><br>
* kdelibs-bugs: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kdelibs-bugs" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kdelibs-bugs</a><br>
* QmlWeb: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/qmlweb" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/qmlweb</a><br>
<br>
# Inactive Language/Country-Specific Mailing Lists [11 lists]<br>
<br>
## Currently Inactive With Almost No Previous Activity [2 lists]<br>
<br>
* Kde-i18n-eu: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-i18n-eu" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-i18n-eu</a><br>
* Kde-edu-pt_br: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-edu-pt_br" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-edu-pt_br</a><br>
<br>
## Currently Inactive But Previously Active [5 lists]<br>
<br>
* Kde-i18n-uk: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-i18n-uk" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-i18n-uk</a><br>
* KDE-india: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-india" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-india</a><br>
* Kde-l10n-in: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-l10n-in" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-l10n-in</a><br>
* Kde-latam: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-latam" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-latam</a><br>
* Kde-l10n-kn: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-l10n-kn" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-l10n-kn</a><br>
<br>
## No Activity In 7+ Years [3 lists]<br>
<br>
* Kde-el: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-el" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-el</a><br>
* kde-mexico: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-mexico" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-mexico</a><br>
* Kde-l10n-si: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-l10n-si" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-l10n-si</a><br>
<br>
## Infrequently Active [1 list]<br>
<br>
* KDE-Italia: <a href="https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-italia" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-italia</a><br>
<br>
-- <br>
Joseph P. De Veaugh-Geiss<br>
KDE Internal Communications & KDE Eco Community Manager<br>
OpenPGP: 8FC5 4178 DC44 AD55 08E7 DF57 453E 5746 59A6 C06F<br>
Matrix: @joseph:<a href="http://kde.org" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">kde.org</a><br>
<br>
Generally available Monday-Thursday from 10-16h CET/CEST. Outside of <br>
these times it may take a little longer for me to respond.<br>
<br>
KDE Eco: Building Energy-Efficient Free Software!<br>
Website: <a href="https://eco.kde.org" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://eco.kde.org</a><br>
Mastodon: @be4foss@floss.social<br>
<br>
</blockquote></div>