R.I.P. Bob ... very sad, condolences to the family Uwf Vis
On Wed, Feb 9, 2022, 15:00 <[email protected]> wrote: > Send Xastir mailing list submissions to > [email protected] > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://xastir.org/mailman/listinfo/xastir > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > [email protected] > > You can reach the person managing the list at > [email protected] > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Xastir digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. [[email protected]: [aprssig] WB4APR SK] (Tom Russo) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2022 09:22:08 -0700 > From: Tom Russo <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] > Subject: [Xastir] [[email protected]: [aprssig] WB4APR SK] > Message-ID: <[email protected]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > > For those who are not subscribed to APRSSIG, some sad news. > > ----- Forwarded message from Steve Dimse <[email protected]> ----- > > Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2022 10:29:54 -0500 > From: > To: > Subject: [aprssig] WB4APR SK > > Yes, it is true. Amateur radio has lost a true pioneer in its transition > to the digital age. I will certainly miss him. We often argued, but I > deeply respected him. I'm glad I had the chance to express that to him > unequivocally before his death. When he was diagnosed he was not expected > to last 6 months but he made it two years, and it took covid to finish the > job. He was tough as well as brilliant. > > Bob did not want to make a big deal of his cancer and did not want > sympathy, so he only told a few people. He did drop a few hints over the > last two years though. Bob tried to get a group of active programmers in > APRS to come together, but no one stepped forward. We talked about it, and > I told him I thought it would not happen until he made his diagnosis public > and involved the larger community. He did not want to do that, so I agreed > to help as I could. I have control of aprs.org, and TAPR has the > paperwork to transfer the APRS trademark. > > The APRS community has some choices to make. I am no spring chicken > myself, and I have no desire to assume Bob's throne on top of APRS. However > I am not going to just hand responsibility to a single person. This needs > to be a community effort and not become dependent on a single person. We > need to use this sad opportunity to strengthen APRS. I hope people will > step forward to form a group to assume the leadership role. I would like to > see a non-profit formed with a real board of directors, bylaws, and open > membership. But I'm not going to do it - collaboration is not one of my > strengths either! > > I am sure TAPR will be willing to help in any way it can, and a real APRS > group should be able to secure a grant from ARDC (ampr.org) for funding > itself. If you weren't aware ARDC, which has held the 44.0.0.0/8 IP > allocation since the beginning, sold an unused quarter of the allocation to > Amazon for $108 million a couple years back, and has been giving out grants > for worthy ham radio projects. > > This can be a beginning of a new era for APRS if a few people are willing > to take on a lot of unpaid, under-appreciated effort. If that doesn't > happen, I will update the aprs.org pages with new user-defined packet > definitions and to-calls. I will not be drawn into discussion about > protocol changes, new icons, or other such minutia. Other than housekeeping > details, the protocol is not officially changing until an open membership > group steps up and takes over. Without the ability to change, people may > decide to implement changes unilaterally, which will not be good for the > community. > > Bob loved APRS, and he wanted it to thrive after his death. But for all > his flashes of brilliance he was never good at creating a collaborative > group. We tried to help him by creating the APRS Working Group in the early > 2000s but he never did anything with it once we created the protocol and > stepped aside. It is time for someone to step into his shoes and lead, or > APRS will decline. > > It is in your hands. > > Steve K4HG > > > > _______________________________________________ > aprssig mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.tapr.org/mailman/listinfo/aprssig_lists.tapr.org > > ----- End forwarded message ----- > > -- > Tom Russo KM5VY > Tijeras, NM > > echo "prpv_a'rfg_cnf_har_cvcr" | sed -e 's/_/ /g' | tr [a-m][n-z] > [n-z][a-m] > > > > ------------------------------ > > Subject: Digest Footer > > _______________________________________________ > Xastir mailing list > [email protected] > http://xastir.org/mailman/listinfo/xastir > > > ------------------------------ > > End of Xastir Digest, Vol 781, Issue 1 > ************************************** > _______________________________________________ Xastir mailing list [email protected] http://xastir.org/mailman/listinfo/xastir
