[Xastir] Xastir Digest, Vol 781, Issue 1

[Udo VISINTINI]

R.I.P. Bob ... very sad, condolences to the family

Uwf Vis

On Wed, Feb 9, 2022, 15:00 <xastir-request at lists.xastir.org> wrote:

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>    1. [steve at dimse.com: [aprssig] WB4APR SK] (Tom Russo)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2022 09:22:08 -0700
> From: Tom Russo <russo at bogodyn.org>
> To: xastir at xastir.org
> Subject: [Xastir] [steve at dimse.com: [aprssig] WB4APR SK]
> Message-ID: <YgPqMCex9cEoaM+X at bogodyn.org>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
>
> For those who are not subscribed to APRSSIG, some sad news.
>
> ----- Forwarded message from Steve Dimse <steve at dimse.com> -----
>
> 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
>
>
>
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> ----- 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]
>
>
>
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> End of Xastir Digest, Vol 781, Issue 1
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