On 1/19/07, Ray Zimmerman <rz10@cornell.edu> wrote:
Another possible option is something that is used at my university for mailing list owners. Once a year I get an e-mail saying that I have to "renew" it (i.e. basically, acknowledge that I still exist and have a need for it) within some window of time or it gets disabled.
I'm obviously not suggesting projects be removed or disabled, but such an infrequent maintainer ping like this could be helpful. I.e. once a year you get an e-mail saying, click this link within the next 2 months to confirm your desire to continue as owner of the following modules. The destination page could have checkboxes for the projects you currently maintain. Anything you don't renew goes up for adoption.
One attractive feature of this approach is that it ensures that a maintainer is actually still reachable at their contact address.
I think this is the best idea proposed so far. A regular email ping and a method for maintainers to specifically abandon a module sounds great.