The Linux Foundation uses Groups.io to provide mailing lists for LF projects. To learn more about groups.io, please reference their help documentation or look at the GroupManagersForum wiki, which has a wealth of information for both group members and group managers.
Why use Groups.io for mailing lists?
- Groups.io has a modern interface including interactive, searchable archives.
- Groups.io provides advanced features including muting threads and integrations with modern tools like GitHub, Slack, and Trello.
- Groups.io has optional extras like a shared calendar, polling, chat, a wiki, and more.
What don't you use <some other provider>?
Groups.io is our preferred provider for mailing lists. The next best alternatives we are aware either have issues scaling to diverse, world-wide communities, or are more like "forum with email notification" solutions – which can still be a great fit for your community for public Q&A and support, but don't provide basic distribution list functionality, especially for private lists.
As someone familiar with mailman, are there major differences I should be aware of?
- Groups.io lists are organized as "subgroups", where members first join the "main" group, which functions as a sort of master list, and then they choose the specific “subgroup” lists they want to subscribe to.
- Rather than having one password per list, you have an account with groups.io with one password that provides you access to all the lists you are subscribed to, even across multiple projects.
Where do I find the settings and owner/moderator tools?
To change settings while in a group or subgroup, left click “Admin” from the side menu.
Then from “Admin” you can select:
“Settings” to change overall settings for a group, including privacy and message policy settings.
“Members” to manage people within a group, including adjusting their role and privileges.
“Pending” to view messages pending moderation.