The first test bounced.
I sent one word to the new TechOps distribution list at 11:43 in the morning: “test.” Gmail returned a permanent delivery failure almost immediately.
The failure said the address did not exist. That had to be fixed before Trac could send ticket updates there.
Two minutes later, I sent another message.
“testing techops distribution list. Where all trac updates will go”
The list had a specific job. Peek was using Trac to track technical work, and the new address was supposed to receive the infrastructure ticket updates.
I had joined as Director of Technical Operations less than two months earlier. This was one small piece of setting up the operating process for the team.
A distribution list was basic plumbing. It gave Trac one address that could reach the people responsible for technical operations. The ticket system could send updates there, and the team could see the same changes without somebody forwarding each one manually.
The failed first test showed that creating the address was not enough. It still had to accept and distribute mail.
The second message stated the destination: “Where all trac updates will go.” I had sent it, but nobody had replied to confirm that the list distributed it.
I had not yet seen a reply from another list member or a Trac-generated update at the new address. Gmail accepting the second send was not the same as the distribution list working.
The next proof needed to come from somebody on the list or from Trac itself. Until then, the second message was another test, not a completed setup.