Gregory's Server
@jwildeboer I would like to suggest that the specific medium used for communication (e.g. a mailing list) is not essential to "that simple approach"; what's essential is
1. The things every project should have are: a website, a source code archive, a bug tracker, and a small number (only the biggest projects will need more than one) of discussion groups.
2. All of these are *asynchronous* communication media. There can be official synchronous communication media as well (e.g. an IRC channel) but they are strictly secondary. In particular, final decisions are never made via a synchronous meeting, and participation in synchronous communication is never required.
3. All of these are implemented using open protocols for which fully capital-F Free Software clients exist. (Use of non-free server-side software is discouraged but not completely forbidden.)
@jwildeboer To me, the most important aspects of this, that have gotten lost, are: _small_ number of _asynchronous_ discussion groups. Open protocols and FLOSS clients are important, but not nearly as urgent as consolidating discussion and decision-making authority in a strictly limited number of places, and making sure that all those places are asynchronous. These are what make a project accessible to newcomers with limited time and social energy.