doc: misc cleanups and whitespace additions

[public-inbox.git] / README

diff --git a/README b/README
index f0f2f6897d7d14ac2a3e49fac23f9920dd583684..85b48be81f3faa04687d775ad0c559d355c2974c 100644 (file)
--- a/README
+++ b/README
@@ -1,17 +1,18 @@
 public-inbox - an "archives first" approach to mailing lists
 ------------------------------------------------------------
 public-inbox - an "archives first" approach to mailing lists
 ------------------------------------------------------------

+

 public-inbox implements the sharing of an email inbox via git to
 complement or replace traditional mailing lists.  Readers may
 public-inbox implements the sharing of an email inbox via git to
 complement or replace traditional mailing lists.  Readers may

-subscribe to a mailing list using ssoma[1] (a git-wrapper) to
-import email from a git repository into an IMAP folder, Maildir,
-or mbox.  Readers may also read via Atom feeds and HTML archives.
+read via NNTP, Atom feeds or HTML archives.

 
 public-inbox spawned around three main ideas:
 
 * Publically accessible and archived communication is essential to
 
 public-inbox spawned around three main ideas:
 
 * Publically accessible and archived communication is essential to

-  Free and Open Source development.
-* Contributing to Free and Open Source projects should not require the
-  use of non-Free/non-Open Source services or software.
+  Free Software development.
+
+* Contributing to Free Software projects should not require the
+  use of non-Free services or software.
+

 * Graphical user interfaces should not be required for text-based
   communication.
 
 * Graphical user interfaces should not be required for text-based
   communication.
 


@@ -20,10 +21,10 @@ to run their own instances with minimal overhead.
 
 Implementation
 --------------
 
 Implementation
 --------------

+

 public-inbox uses ssoma[1], Some Sort Of Mail Archiver which implements
 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 inbox without subscribing via SMTP and have easy access to old
-messages.
+no policy of its own.  By storing (and optionally) exposing an inbox
+via git, it is fast and efficient to host and mirror public-inboxes.

 
 Traditional mailing lists use the "push" model.  For readers, this
 requires commitment to subscribe and effort to unsubscribe.  New readers
 
 Traditional mailing lists use the "push" model.  For readers, this
 requires commitment to subscribe and effort to unsubscribe.  New readers


@@ -31,49 +32,61 @@ may also have difficulty following existing discussions if archives do
 not expose Message-ID headers for responses.  List server admins may be
 burdened with delivery failures.
 
 not expose Message-ID headers for responses.  List server admins may be
 burdened with delivery failures.
 

-public-inbox uses the "pull" model.  Readers import mail into an mbox,
-Maildir, or IMAP folder from git repositories periodically.  If a reader
-loses interest, they simply stop syncing.  Since we use git, mirrors are
-easy-to-setup, and lists are easy-to-relocate to different mail
-addresses without losing/splitting archives.  Dedicated readers only
-need to install ssoma, a command-line tool[1] currently implemented in
-Perl.
+public-inbox uses the "pull" model.  Casual readers may also follow
+the list via NNTP, Atom feed or HTML archives.
+
+Users of the ssoma[1] command-line tool may import mail into an mbox,
+Maildir, or IMAP folder from git repositories periodically.
+
+If a reader loses interest, they simply stop syncing.

 
 

-Casual readers may also follow the list via Atom feed or web archives.
+Since we use git, mirrors are easy-to-setup, and lists are
+easy-to-relocate to different mail addresses without losing/splitting
+archives.

 
 

-_Anybody_ may also setup a delivery-only mailing list server to replay
-a public-inbox git archive to subscribers via SMTP.
+_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
 --------
 
 [1] http://ssoma.public-inbox.org/
 
 Features
 --------

+

 * anybody may participate via plain-text email
 * anybody may participate via plain-text email

-* stores email in git, readers have a complete archive of the inbox
-* Atom feed allows casual readers to follow via feed reader
-* Mail user-agent (MUA) users may use Maildir, mbox(5) and/or IMAP locally
+
+* stores email in git, readers may have a complete archive of the inbox
+
+* Atom feed and NNTP allows casual readers to follow via feed reader
+

 * uses only well-documented and easy-to-implement data formats
 
 Try it out now, see http://try.public-inbox.org/
 
 * uses only well-documented and easy-to-implement data formats
 
 Try it out now, see http://try.public-inbox.org/
 

-Requirements (Atom, read-only client)
--------------------------------------
-* any feed reader capable of following Atom feeds
+Requirements for reading:
+
+* any software capable of NNTP or following Atom feeds

 
 Any basic web browser will do for the HTML archives.
 
 Any basic web browser will do for the HTML archives.

+We primarily develop on w3m to maximize accessibility.

 
 Requirements (participant)
 --------------------------
 
 Requirements (participant)
 --------------------------

-* ssoma - http://ssoma.public-inbox.org/
+

 * any MUA which may send text-only emails ("git send-email" works!)
 * any MUA which may send text-only emails ("git send-email" works!)

+  Users are strongly encouraged to use the "reply-all" feature of
+  their mailers to reduce the impact of a public-inbox as a
+  single point of failure.
+

 * participants do not need to install public-inbox, only server admins
 
 Requirements (server)
 ---------------------
 * participants do not need to install public-inbox, only server admins
 
 Requirements (server)
 ---------------------

+

 See http://public-inbox.org/INSTALL
 
 Hacking
 -------
 See http://public-inbox.org/INSTALL
 
 Hacking
 -------

+

 Source code is available via git:
 
        git clone git://80x24.org/public-inbox
 Source code is available via git:
 
        git clone git://80x24.org/public-inbox


@@ -82,6 +95,7 @@ See below for contact info.
 
 Contact
 -------
 
 Contact
 -------

+

 We are happy to see feedback of all types via plain-text email.
 public-inbox discussion is self-hosting on public-inbox.org
 Please send comments, user/developer discussion, patches, bug reports,
 We are happy to see feedback of all types via plain-text email.
 public-inbox discussion is self-hosting on public-inbox.org
 Please send comments, user/developer discussion, patches, bug reports,


@@ -94,45 +108,31 @@ 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 may subscribe via ssoma(1), LISTNAME is a name of your choosing:
-
-    URL=git://public-inbox.org/meta
-    LISTNAME=public-inbox
-
-    # to initialize a maildir (this may be a new or existing maildir,
-    # ssoma will not touch existing messages)
-    # If you prefer mbox, use "ssoma add mbox ..." instead
-    ssoma add $LISTNAME $URL maildir:/path/to/maildir/
+The archives are readable via NNTP or HTTP:

 
 

-    # read with your favorite MUA (only using mutt as an example)
-    mutt -f /path/to/maildir # (or /path/to/mbox)
+       nntp://news.public-inbox.org/inbox.comp.mail.public-inbox.meta
+       http://public-inbox.org/meta/

 
 

-    # to keep your mbox or maildir up-to-date, periodically run the following:
-    ssoma sync $LISTNAME
+You may also clone all messages via git:

 
 

-    # your MUA may modify and delete messages from the maildir or mbox,
-    # this does not affect ssoma functionality at all
+       git clone --mirror git://public-inbox.org/meta.git

 
 

-    # to sync all your ssoma subscriptions via cronjob
-    ssoma sync --cron
+Or pass the same git repository URL for ssoma using the instructions at:

 
 

-HTML inbox archives are available: http://public-inbox.org/meta/
+       http://ssoma.public-inbox.org/README.html

 
 Anti-Spam
 ---------
 
 Anti-Spam
 ---------

+

 The maintainer of public-inbox has found SpamAssassin a good tool for
 filtering his personal mail, and it will be the default spam filtering
 tool in public-inbox.
 
 The maintainer of public-inbox has found SpamAssassin a good tool for
 filtering his personal mail, and it will be the default spam filtering
 tool in public-inbox.
 

-Readers may also use a custom mail-delivery-agent for delivery to enable
-spam filtering by having ssoma deliver to a command via pipe.
-
-There is unlikely to be any tool which is 100% accurate at classifying
-spam, so it is possible to remove messages using the ssoma-rm(1) tool
-in ssoma.
+See http://public-inbox/dc-dlvr-spam-flow.html for more info.

 
 Content Filtering
 -----------------
 
 Content Filtering
 -----------------

+

 To discourage phishing, web bugs (tracking), viruses and other nuisances,
 only plain-text content is allowed and non-text content is stripped.
 This saves I/O bandwidth and storage, which is important as
 To discourage phishing, web bugs (tracking), viruses and other nuisances,
 only plain-text content is allowed and non-text content is stripped.
 This saves I/O bandwidth and storage, which is important as


@@ -144,7 +144,8 @@ aims to preserve the focus on content, and not presentation.
 
 Copyright
 ---------
 
 Copyright
 ---------

-Copyright 2013, Eric Wong <normalperson@yhbt.net> and all contributors.
+
+Copyright 2013-2015 all contributors <meta@public-inbox.org>

 License: AGPLv3 or later <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl-3.0.txt>
 
 This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
 License: AGPLv3 or later <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl-3.0.txt>
 
 This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify


@@ -159,3 +160,14 @@ GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
 
 You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
 along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
 You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
 along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.

+
+Additional permission under GNU GPL version 3 section 7:
+
+    If you modify this program, or any covered work, by linking or
+    combining it with the OpenSSL project's OpenSSL library (or a
+    modified version of that library), containing parts covered by the
+    terms of the OpenSSL or SSLeay licenses, the copyright holder(s)
+    grants you additional permission to convey the resulting work.
+    Corresponding Source for a non-source form of such a combination
+    shall include the source code for the parts of OpenSSL used as well
+    as that of the covered work.