Yeah I agree that j2nsm could be a bit more open. It has a good database (wiki) which is currently private, and the IRC channel is also private. But on the other hand, there is actually some stuff that there is a very good reason for keeping under wraps, mostly for securty reasons. The best in my opinion would probably be to make the system more open, but keep the sensitive issues private. I just don't know if the pressure is really there to make things more open. I think the information database at least should be made mostly public (though not to edit). That would at least spur activity a bit, and get more potential members. It's kinda dead at the moment.

It's pretty easy to "join" j2nsm anyway, so in the mean time that's the best option for anyone interested in getting involved. It's a pretty loose collective, and I don't think there is even any real official list of members. If you are smart, trustworthy, and able to make the slightest positive contribution, then you can get in. A lot of people with access don't even have much programming skill, including me.

The sort of things people could do 6 years ago are quite a bit different from what is possible now. Crashing servers, spamming servers with crap without even being in them, and some things that are quite a bit worse (I will not go into more detail here). JJ2+ and other tools blocks a lot of that but some of it is bad enough that there is still a very good reason for letting as few people as possible know about it. The people with access to this knowledge should only be the ones who can be trusted not to put it to bad use or leak it, and I think that is a very reasonable position, albeit somewhat annoying to those left in the dark.