Oct 21, 2026

This Slack #general channel has forever been accessible through a publicly-posted (our system wiki menu, and multiple Twitter/X postings) open invite, and I don't believe we have ever blocked anyone, and there are many pseudonymous lurkers (267 current "members" in all). As we approach release we believe it's important that people using the software can easily get a good sense of our process and our long history. Unfortunately this channel covers only the past 9 years or so, with 6 more on our email list and IRC, though the history here is substantial. In order to make the content both linkable and searchable We'll be setting up a #general mirror (with history), linked from our web site. Given that it's already public this isn't a change except in making it easier to work with. *Included* • Every message, thread, reaction and attachment (images, PDFs, snippets, videos) in #general. • Each member's display name, full name as shown in Slack, avatar, and profile title if set. *Not included* • Email addresses, phone numbers and Skype handles from member profiles. • Time zones, status text, custom profile fields and separate first/last name fields. • Gravatar links (they encode a hash of your email). Avatars are stored as images only. • Other channels, DMs and huddle transcripts. *Unchanged* Message text is archived as written. A few messages contain email addresses that people posted themselves; there are no phone numbers.