Patchmanagement.org listserve moving to a new location

After trying to deal with all the dkim/dmarc listserve issues, we’re moving the patchmanagement.org listserve to a new location:  Google Groups.  The reason is that Google rewrites the header files so that emails from the listserve will play nice with today’s modern spam filters.  While the security person in me slightly freaks out that it’s rewriting headers, the person who still prefers email as a way to get key info accepts that it’s what we have to do.

===== Here’s what I wrote earlier:

We are moving PatchManagement.org from Listserv to Google Groups as Listserv is no longer meeting the needs of our user base. We understand many companies have been enforcing stronger security measures that Listserv cannot support and this has caused some of our users to be unable to participate in PatchManagment.org. For this reason we have made the decision to transition PatchManagement.org.  (Don’t get me started on DKIM/DMARC and all that )

As this transition occurs we will try to minimize disruption and we have also strived to keep the overall experience very simple as it has always been. The PatchManagment.org site will undergo some minor cosmetic changes and will provide full details on how to subscribe, unsubscribe, and how to access the Google Group. Access to the legacy archive will remain at this time, but new messages will be visible through the PatchManagment Google Group so you will be able to view discussions either through your email or through the Google Group directly.

The current plan is to perform the transition on April 18th. A 2nd communication/invite will go out to all subscribers of patchmanagement.org a week before we are transitioning off of listserv. Finally, on April 18th, the day of transition, a notification will be sent to all users informing that the cutoff is happening today.

ACTION ITEM:

If you would like to join the PatchManagement Google Group please visit the following URL and apply to join the group this time with the RIGHT URL:

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/patchmanagement

 IF YOU READ NOTHING ELSE, READ THE LINE ABOVE ^^^^^

We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you so much for participating in patchmanagement.org.

Q and A:

Do I have to have a gmail account or google linked account?  No.  Any email address will do.  The only thing a google account will give you is access to the web interface.

Will it act like just plain email?  Yes.

Did you consider other alternatives?   Yes, but still for many email is the best platform to get the content in your face.  With the addition of the web interface we’re hoping that this provides the best of both worlds for all.  I’ve personally used Slack, Teams, and am old enough to remember nntp and instant messenger.  It’s always a balance picking a right community platform.

Again, all of us that benefit from all of you sharing thank you very very much as we make this transition.  Memberships have to be approved, so we beg your forgiveness and ask for patience during the transition.

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To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to patchmanagement+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to patchmanagement@googlegroups.com.
Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/patchmanagement.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

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So … if you are a current member of the Patchmanagement.org listserve AND you do NOT want a google profile, do the following:

https://groups.google.com/group/patchmanagement/subscribe

To sign up without a google profile.

Go there.

Go through the annoying captcha.

Do not complete setting up the profile.

You will be able to post/use email/just not use the web interface.  Note you may need to do inprivate browsing for it to NOT try to hook into your existing Google profile.

If you DO want to use the web interface, you’ll need to either use a google account one one associated with a google account, or complete setting it up.

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What is patchmanagement.org?  It’s the firehose of patching information.  As we see issues with patching, that’s where we all go “Hey, I’m seeing this are you seeing it too?”  It may not be for all, it can be chatty (that’s why the web interface will be good as that way you can monitor without having your inbox flooded).  But bottom line, there’s no better place to get the raw info about patching and patch management.  (edit:  okay so Askwoody is also great too