Re: A dose of reality

[Jonathan NAYLOR]

> Not only do I have *zero* use for proprietary protocols on ham radio, I
> am also finding it much harder to justify the existence of proprietary
> software in ham radio.

An interesting side issue of this, at least with respect to the UK amateur
radio licence, is that we are forbidden to transmit codes and ciphers. If
a protocol is not published it becomes something akin to a cipher, and is
on the edge of legality, at least in the UK. This raises issues about the
usage of Pactor II, Clover and FlexNet in the UK. Just say No.

Thankfully most amateur radio protocols are published, AX.25, NET/ROM, ROSE,
and Packet Cluster spring to mind. This is exactly what amateur radio should be
about.

BTW what software did W6STI write, I'm not familiar with his products.

Jonathan