The NZOSS Mailing Lists

NZOSS use Email Mailing Lists as a means for communication and networking between members and participants.

NZOSS Public Mailing Lists

NZOSS OpenChat

The OpenChat list is the primary discussion mailing list for the NZOSS, and is open to all interested parties - whether an official member of the society or not. You can un/subscribe online.

Note that both subscription and unsubscription require further confirmation, handled via an automated email system. For this reason, make sure the email address you are using the the same one you intend to subscribe/unsubscribe.

If you're already subscribed to the list and want to update your settings (e.g. digest modes, email aliases, etc.), you can do it in the same place.

Contributors should also be aware of the deliberate limitations that the listserv's enforce with regard to posting rights, file attachments and other factors - In summary, please note the following restrictions:

• Posts must be from email addresses subscribed to the list.
  
• Posts must include the listserv address as an explicit (To: or CC:) recipient.
  
• Posts must be smaller than 200 kilobytes in total.
  
• Posts must not be heavily cross-posted (sent to several open recipients at once).
  

Messages failing to comply with the above are sent to the moderator for manual approval. Contributors also get a notice that their message has been held, and have the means to delete it from the hold queue, or wait until it is released. The moderator will usually drop (silently!) messages requiring moderator intervention.

These restrictions prevent spam and abuse of the mailing list, and are in line with accepted best practises. Please be considerate of the moderator and other list users.

Acceptable Use Policy
Participants in OpenChat are asked to adhere to the OpenChat Acceptable Use Policy.

List Public Archive
The archived discussions on the OpenChat mailing list are publically available.
There's two archives - one for the ezmlm based list that was started in the first days of the NZOSS and runs through until November 2008; another for its mailman based replacement. The early list archive is not currently search-engine-indexed, however, this is under review.

Original OpenChat Archive. (user/pass are nzoss/nzoss).
Current OpenChat Archives.

Members of Openchat are also encouraged to join NZOSS Announce, to keep across all happenings.

NZOSS Announce

The Announce list is the the place to look for important announcements, upcoming events and notable news items. These may or may not be cross-posted to OpenChat; so folks joining OpenChat are encouraged to also join Announce.

Announce was created to provide a low-volume alternative to OpenChat for those who want to stay in touch with the Free and Open Source world without the volumes of email that OpenChat can occaisionally generate.

Some important points to note:

• The Announce list is configured with an explicit reply-to pointed at OpenChat; all discussions about news and events that're posted to Announce, will take place on OpenChat.
  
• The Announce list is moderated; posts must be approved by the list moderators before they will be reflected to all subscribers. This is a move to ensure that mail volumes remain low, and that contributions continue to meet a reasonable definition of 'important' and 'noticable'.
  
• With the above points noted, contributors should otherwise note the OpenChat AUP with the understanding that it applies to 'Announce', as well.
  

You can un/subscribe online. There's also an online web archive of list traffic.

Other NZOSS Mailing Lists

Additional mailing lists may be made available from time to time for specific projects or events. Details will be posted here.

Technical Assistance

If you are having trouble subscribing to our mailing lists, look carefully at the error message supplied (usually as a return email). This includes contact details for the technical administrators of the NZOSS mailing list systems.