I knew Boyd (and David Hogan). I'm surprised and saddened by his death. I mostly saw him at Usenixes and at Bell Labs. I think we started corresponding after his `BIG BATS!' Usenet posting (reproduced below; my copy of the message lacks a Message-ID and Google Groups doesn't find it nor the referenced parent message), though I could be mistaken; he was certainly visible in other groups, notably unix-[wlg]izards.
There were some things I never understood about Boyd, such as why he was happier in France than in Australia. Perhaps someone can save a copy of the insultant.net web site before his ISP shuts it down for non-payment? I know software exists to copy web sites, but I don't have it. As brucee said in another context, `it made me smile': --- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Boyd Roberts) Newsgroups: net.jobs Subject: Re: Personal druge use References: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Organization: The Instruction Set ltd., London, UK. Keywords: drugs Summary: BIG BATS! Date: 8 Apr 1986 0755-EST (Tuesday) I'm not scare of no mass-spectrometer sifting through my excretions. I get worried when the boss catches me under my desk, killing bats with my ruler. Black bats... bats... black bats... big hairy black bats... BIG BATS! But then again, after a few good hits of ether I'm someone else. Boyd Roberts +++ + ...!mcvax!ukc!inset!boyd + [EMAIL PROTECTED] + [EMAIL PROTECTED] + +++ "Isn't that kind of severe?" ---
