[Coral-List] a new home for Coral-List

[Mike Jankulak - NOAA Affiliate]

Greetings Coral-Listers!

On behalf of AOML's Coral Program, and in coordination with the
International Coral Reef Society, I'd like to announce a big change for our
much-beloved mailing list. ICRS has agreed to take over management of
Coral-List!

You have questions, I know. Here's a quick FAQ:

Q: Why is the list leaving NOAA?

We've worried for a while that the future of Coral-List at NOAA was deeply
uncertain. Part of the problem is that we're not funded to keep the list
running – for the last 6 years we've basically been volunteering our
sysadmin and moderation efforts in our spare time, which is rewarding but
increasingly unsustainable. Part of the problem is technical, since the
list dates back to 1995 and has needed to undergo several significant
reinventions as NOAA IT developed newer and better security practices for
email servers. Really we've reached the point where we can't keep holding
this thing together with paperclips and chewing gum and we need to take
decisive action to ensure Coral-List will have a long and happy future.

Q: Why ICRS?

ICRS is the ideal partner, and we're so grateful to them for finding a way
to make this happen. They have been part of the Coral-List community for
decades and they really understand what makes us tick, the subjects we're
most passionate about, the reasons people turn to the list for information
about science, jobs, conferences, and everything else that's so important
to us.

Q: What effect will this have on the list?

The main thing is that the mailing address and website url will change.
Details to follow, but we expect to use an ICRS domain, probably something
like lists.coralreefs.org. Apart from that, we think the change will be
largely transparent to our subscribers, and it will open the door to
technical improvements that we think are long-overdue.

Q: Technical improvements? What?

I'm glad you asked! One important factor is that the list will run on
professionally-maintained servers with actual teams of IT support personnel
worldwide rather than one random guy tinkering with his linux server in
Miami. This will improve list robustness and security. ICRS will be the
face of the list, and they will moderate and answer your questions, but
they will be backed up by paid professionals. This means things that have
long been out of the question for Coral-List (upgrade to the much nicer v3
release of the Mailman software, ability to send and receive formatted
emails, maybe even attaching photos and documents to your messages) will
receive fresh consideration.

Q: When is this expected to happen?

Watch! this! space! for more announcements but right now we are targeting
the end of February for completing this transition. Technically speaking,
it's really not all that complicated a task. The tricky thing will be
timing everything right.

Q: I have feelings! What if I don't like this?

The first thing I'll say, which I think is important, is that anyone can
opt out of the whole situation at any time simply by unsubscribing from the
list. If you want help with that, send email directly to me or to
coral-list-owner at coral.aoml.noaa.gov before the end of February. If you
have questions not covered here I'll do my best to answer them. If you want
to have a metadiscussion about Coral-List by posting to Coral-List then I
for one think that is completely on-topic.

Q: Do you have any words of wisdom to share?

It's been quite the journey so far. Coral-List started in 1995, the vision
of Jim Hendee, NOAA research oceanographer and, at the time of his
retirement in 2020, Director of AOML's Ocean Chemistry and Ecosystems
Division. With help throughout the years from a motley crew of workerbees,
most notably Clarke Jeffris, Louis Florit, Lew Gramer and Ruben van
Hooidonk, Coral-List developed into today's community of ten thousand
members. Three decades is a lot of history but really, I'm more excited to
see what its next three decades will look like!

Mike J+