Just a quick question: is this just for mainline client dev, or are we alternative developers allowed to ask questions too? 
As long as the questions are core-bitcoin-related and not specific to your alternative client.Good alternative client question: "I'm writing an alternative client that doesn't store private keys at all (they are generated from the user's password). But I'll need a bitcoin protocol message that does XYZ to make it work; are other clients willing to support that new message?"
Bad alternative client question: "I'm coding my alternative client in Forth; what's the best GUI toolkit to use?"
Is the mailing list moderated? I think that would be usefull (unless we try to repeat the mess of the forum).