Of the pieces of the puzzle that Arthur listed, some are not very problematic to transfer:
- data distribution - code distribution - mailing list maintenance - mailing list hosting
In a similar vein, my feeling is that the tasks largely fall into two categories: things that people do, and things that machines do. I think we should be concentrating on what person or people will be responsible for the former set of tasks. I feel safe in assuming that any people who are responsible enough to handle keeping the tz project up to date can figure out a good solution for the machine-based tasks on their own. My perception of how the project operates is basically the same as Eric's: Arthur's role seems to be made up of mostly straightforward operations that need to be handled with precision and care. Consistency, attention to detail, and availability seem to be among the most important traits that Arthur possesses, and I think any replacement would need to possess as well. - Adam