When I begin investigating a new software project, one of the first things I do is explore the archives of the mailing lists. They are treasure-troves of information about the project and its development community. As such, they naturally excite the interest of academics bemused by the open source phenomenon. But my interests are entirely pragmatic.
First, I want to know whether the archives of the list are public. Is this an open project or isn’t it?
Next, I want to see the pace of discussion on the development list. Are there frequent exchanges between the developers? And what is the nature of these exchanges? Do the developers appear to be thinking through the development process on the list itself? Or is this merely a platform for pronouncements? If the latter, then I begin to suspect that the real development list is a private one somewhere else. Again, is this an open project or isn’t it?
How do the people on the development list respond to questions? How do they respond to suggestions? How do they respond to contributions?
My interest is not academic. I want to know how I am likely to be treated in this community. The world is full of open source projects which might value a bit of my time. I want to know whether this is one of them, or whether I should move on.
Of course the list archive is also a narrative history. It has characters who shape the narrative arc. It may be punctuated by events or even conflict. In the best examples, the archive strips away the personalities of the contributors until the code itself becomes the character of interest, undergoing change, facing its own trials.
Software development projects, of course, are not alone in making best advantage of public archives of mailing lists. Take the license-discuss list of the Open Source Initiative, for example. Delving into the archive there can be exhilarating as figures of legend appear, and inevitably appear all too human.
In an age of blogs and Internet Relay Chat (IRC) and podcasts, I suppose that public archives of email mailing lists sounds a bit 20th century. Possibly. But for the foreseeable future they will continue to be a defining feature of open source projects.
Oh, and one other thing.
Everyone remembers the first time they post to a public open source development list. I know I do 🙂