[sf-lug] relocate SF-LUG list from linuxmafia.com (on linuxmafia.com) to lists.sf-lug.org (on BALUG VM)?

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Michael Paoli (Michael.Paoli at cal.berkeley.edu):

> And ... survey closed and results:
> https://www.surveymonkey.com/stories/SM-MGTQRS5C/
> 12 responses (4.6% of 259 list members)
> 3 (25%) move SF-LUG list to sf-lug at lists.sf-lug.org and archives to
>         lists.sf-lug.org (hosted on BALUG virtual machine)
> 9 (75%) keep SF-LUG list at sf-lug at linuxmafia.com and archives on
>         linuxmafia.com (hosted on linuxmafia.com)
> http://linuxmafia.com/pipermail/sf-lug/2021q2/015296.html
> 
> Certainly no overwhelming mandate to move it, or even close,
> so, shall remain where it is.

However, you might want to create a setup on lists.sf-lug.org with a
periodically refreshed copy of the mailing list's cumulative mbox and a
copy of /var/lib/mailman/lists/sf-lug/config.pck.  ISTR that a
functional mailing list can be quickly migrated using just those two
files.  (I might have misremembered a detail or two[1], but we could
figure that out, if you're interested.)

That would be a useful exercise as both disaster planning and as an
exercise in planned migration of a Mailman 2.x mailing list.  (Of
course, it's also true that Mailman 2.x is now EOL and increasingly
moldy, and we all need to think about whether to migrate to 3.x or
something else.  Anyway, my other point is that developing one's
expertise with Mailman 2.x in 2021 is like getting better at Visicalc 
and WordStar.)


[1] For example, I cannot remember offhand whether the membership roster
is encoded into config.pck or stored somewhere else.  config.pck is a
Python 'pickled' data file, so not plaintext.)

Hmm, let's see:

linuxmafia:/var/lib/mailman# bin/dumpdb lists/sf-lug/config.pck | less
[output omitted]

Yes, the roster is indeed kept in there, and lots of other interesting
details including each subscriber's per-subscriber membership password.
So, I'm pretty sure _all_ aspects of the mailing list state are
captured in, and recoverable upon migration from, the config.pck file
and the cumulative mbox.