Introduction to FreeS/WAN

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# Mailing lists and newsgroups

## Mailing lists about FreeS/WAN

### The project mailing lists

The Linux FreeS/WAN project has several email lists for user support, bug reports and software development discussions.

We had a single list on clinet.fi for several years (Thanks, folks!), then one list on freeswan.org, but now we've split into several lists:

users
  - The general list for discussing use of the software
  - The place for seeking help with problems (but please check the FAQ first).
  - Anyone can post.
bugs
  - For bug reports.
  - If you are not certain what is going on -- could be a bug, a configuration error, a network problem, ... -- please post to the users list instead.
  - Anyone can post.
design
  - Design discussions, for people working on FreeS/WAN development or others with an interest in design and security issues.
  - It would be a good idea to read the existing design papers (see this list) before posting.
  - Anyone can post.
announce
  - A low-traffic list.
  - Announcements about FreeS/WAN and related software.
  - All posts here are also sent to the users list. You need not subscribe to both.
  - Only the FreeS/WAN team can post.
  - If you have something you feel should go on this list, send it to announce-admin@lists.freeswan.org. Unless it is obvious, please include a short note explaining why we should post it.
briefs
  - A low-traffic list.
  - Weekly summaries of activity on the users list.
  - All posts here are also sent to the users list. You need not subscribe to both.
  - Only the FreeS/WAN team can post.

To subscribe to any of these, you can:

- just follow the links above
- use our web interface
- send mail to listname-request@lists.freeswan.org with a one-line message body "subscribe"

Archives of these lists are available via the web interface.

#### Which list should I use?

For most questions, please check the FAQ first, and if that does not have an answer, ask on the users list. "My configuration doesn't work." does not belong on the bugs list, and "Can FreeS/WAN do such-and-such" or "How do I configure it to..." do not belong in design discussions.

Cross-posting the same message to two or more of these lists is discouraged. Quite a few people read more than one list and getting multiple copies is annoying.

#### List policies

US citizens or residents are asked not to post code to the lists, not even one-line bug fixes. The project cannot accept code which might entangle it in US export restrictions.

Non-subscribers can post to some of these lists. This is necessary; someone working on a gateway install who encounters a problem may not have access to a subscribed account.

Some spam turns up on these lists from time to time. For discussion of why we do not attempt to filter it, see the FAQ. Please do not clutter the lists with complaints about this.

### Archives of the lists

Searchable archives of the old single list have existed for some time. At time of writing, it is not yet clear how they will change for the new multi-list structure.

- Canada
- Holland

Note that these use different search engines. Try both.

Archives of the new lists are available via the web interface.

## Indexes of mailing lists

PAML is the standard reference for Publicly Accessible Mailing Lists. When we last checked, it had over 7500 lists on an amazing variety of topics. It also has FAQ information and a search engine.

There is an index of Linux mailing lists available.

A list of computer security mailing lists, with descriptions.

## Lists for related software and topics

Most links in this section point to subscription addresses for the various lists. Send the one-line message "subscribe list_name " to subscribe to any of them.

### Products that include FreeS/WAN

Our introduction document gives a list of products that include FreeS/WAN. If you have, or are considering, one of those, check the supplier's web site for information on mailing lists for their users.

### Linux mailing lists

- linux-admin@vger.kernel.org, for Linux system administrators
- netfilter@lists.samba.org, about Netfilter, which replaces IPchains in kernels 2.3.15 and later
- security-audit@ferret.lmh.ox.ac.uk, for people working on security audits of various Linux programs
- securedistros@humbolt.geo.uu.nl, for discussion of issues common to all the half dozen projects working on secure Linux distributions.

Each of the scure distribution projects also has its own web site and mailing list. Some of the sites are:

- Bastille Linux scripts to harden Redhat, e.g. by changing permissions and modifying inialisation scripts
- Immunix take a different approach, using a modified compiler to build kernel and utilities with better resistance to various types of overflow and exploit
- the NSA have contractors working on a Security Enhanced Linux, primarily adding stronger access control mechanisms. You can download the current version (which interestingly is under GPL and not export resrtricted) or subscribe to the mailing list from the project web page.

### Lists for IETF working groups

Each IETF working group has an associated mailing list where much of the work takes place.

- ipsec@lists.tislabs.com , the IPsec working group. This is where the protocols are discussed, new drafts announced, and so on. By now, the IPsec working group is winding down since the work is essentially complete. A list archive is available.
- IPsec policy list, and its archive
- IP secure remote access list, and its archive

### Other mailing lists

- ipc-announce@privacy.org a low-traffic list with announcements of developments in privacy, encryption and online civil rights
- a VPN mailing list's home page

## Usenet newsgroups

- sci.crypt
- sci.crypt.research
- comp.dcom.vpn
- talk.politics.crypto

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