OSM mailing list as a forum

(the short link to the OSM mailing list in forum style: https://www.openstreetmap.at/talk )

The oldest form of communication in OpenStreetMap is the mailing list. Put simply, mailing lists are email distribution lists that forward an email they receive to all others who have also subscribed to the mailing list. This means that everyone on the mailing list receives all emails addressed to that mailing list. This allows discussions to be held and each subscriber to the mailing list receives all messages as emails and can store them personally if desired.

The overview page https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo lists almost 150 different OpenStreetMap mailing lists! These are either thematic or regional and cover a specific topic. There is also a separate mailing list for Austria, which can be found under the abbreviation ‘talk-at’.

Now, a mailing list is not to everyone’s taste. However, there is a remedy: a service called ‘Nabble’ can read any mailing list and display it in an internet form view. You can even reply to individual messages as you would in a forum; Nabble then sends this reply to the mailing list. This service has been set up for the talk-at mailing list for some time and can be accessed at http://osm-talk-at.1116557.n5.nabble.com/. However, as this is a link that is difficult to remember, we have set up a redirect: at https://www.openstreetmap.at/talk you will now be redirected to the forum view of the mailing list.