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-rw-r--r--README62
1 files changed, 36 insertions, 26 deletions
diff --git a/README b/README
index 71643dcc..28748145 100644
--- a/README
+++ b/README
@@ -1,43 +1,47 @@
 public-inbox - shared mailboxes via git for public discussion
 -------------------------------------------------------------
 
-public-inbox implements the sharing of an email inbox to complement or
-replace traditional mailing lists for public discussion.  public-inbox
-is primarily intended as a Free, distributed (but not yet decentralized)
-public communications tool for users and developers of Free and Open
-Source Software.  public-inbox should be easy-to-deploy and manage;
-encouraging software projects to run their own instances with minimal
-overhead.
+public-inbox is an "archives first" approach to mailing lists.
+It implements the sharing of an email inbox to complement or replace
+traditional mailing lists.  public-inbox is primarily intended as a
+Free, distributed public communications tool for users and developers of
+Free and Open Source Software.  public-inbox should be easy-to-deploy
+and manage; encouraging software projects to run their own instances
+with minimal overhead.
 
 Implementation
 --------------
 public-inbox uses ssoma[1], Some Sort Of Mail Archiver which implements
 no policy of its own.  By exposing an inbox via git, readers may follow
-the mailing list without subscribing and have easy access to historical
-messages.
+the mailing list without subscribing via SMTP and have easy access to
+old messages.
 
 Traditional mailing lists use the "push" model.  List servers deliver
 content via SMTP to other mail servers used by readers of the mailing
 list.  For readers, this requires commitment to subscribe to the list
-and extra effort to unsubscribe.  Readers may also have difficulty
-following discussions which started before they joined if archives do
-not expose Message-Id headers for responses.  For list server admins,
-this also burdens them with bounce/failure messages for bad/invalid
-addresses.
+and extra effort to unsubscribe.  New readers may also have difficulty
+following existing discussions if archives do not expose Message-Id
+headers for responses.  List server admins are also burdened with
+occasional bounce messages.
 
 public-inbox uses the "pull" model.  Readers import mail into an mbox,
-Maildir, or IMAP folder from the git repositories periodically.  If a
-reader loses interest, they simply stop syncing.  Since ssoma uses git,
+Maildir, or IMAP folder from git repositories periodically.  If a reader
+loses interest, they simply stop syncing.  Since ssoma uses git,
 mirrors are easy-to-setup, and lists are easy-to-relocate to different
-mail addresses without losing/splitting archives.  Readers only need
-to install ssoma, a command-line tool[1] currently implemented in Perl.
+mail addresses without losing/splitting archives.  Dedicated readers
+only need to install ssoma, a command-line tool[1] currently implemented
+in Perl.
 
-Readers may also follow the list via Atom feed.
+Casual readers may also follow the list via Atom feed or web archives.
+
+_Anybody_ may also setup a delivery-only mailing list server to replay
+a public-inbox git archive to subscribers via SMTP.
 
 [1] http://ssoma.public-inbox.org/
 
 Features
 --------
+* anybody may participate by emailing the public address
 * stores email in git, so readers have a full history of the mailing list
 * Atom feed allows casual readers to follow via feed reader
 * Mail user-agent (MUA) users may use Maildir, mbox(5) and/or IMAP locally
@@ -47,6 +51,12 @@ Requirements (Atom, read-only client)
 -------------------------------------
 * any feed reader capable of following Atom feeds
 
+Requirements (participant)
+--------------------------
+* ssoma - http://ssoma.public-inbox.org/
+* any MUA which may send text-only emails ("git send-email" works!)
+* participants do not need to install public-inbox, only server admins
+
 Requirements (server MDA)
 -------------------------
 * git
@@ -54,9 +64,9 @@ Requirements (server MDA)
 * Perl and several modules:
     - Email::Filter
     - XML::Atom::SimpleFeed
-* Ssoma - currently a Perl module
+* ssoma - http://ssoma.public-inbox.org/
 * SpamAssassin (optional, recommended)
-* any HTTP server (optional, for serving Atom feed)
+* CGI-capable HTTP server (optional, recommended for Atom feed and archives)
 
 Hacking
 -------
@@ -73,12 +83,12 @@ public-inbox discussion is self-hosting on public-inbox.org
 Please send comments, user/developer discussion, patches, bug reports,
 and pull requests to our public-inbox.org address at:
 
-        public-inbox@public-inbox.org
+        bugs@public-inbox.org
 
 Please Cc: all recipients when replying as we do not require
 subscription.  This also makes it easier to rope in folks of
-tangentially related projects we depend on (e.g. git developers on
-git@vger.kernel.org).
+tangentially related projects we depend on (e.g. git developers
+on git@vger.kernel.org).
 
 You can subscribe via ssoma(1), LISTNAME is a name of your choosing:
 
@@ -118,8 +128,8 @@ in ssoma.
 Content Filtering
 -----------------
 To discourage phishing, web bugs (tracking), viruses and other nuisances,
-only plain-text content is allowed by default and non-text content is
-stripped.  This saves I/O bandwidth and storage, which is important as
+only plain-text content is allowed and non-text content is stripped.
+This saves I/O bandwidth and storage, which is important as
 entire mail archives are shared between clients.
 
 As of the 2010s, successful online social networks and forums are the