[aprssig] WB4APR SK

[Brian Webster]

Steve,
	I have been around APRS that long. I remember very well how much
work you put in to things like Findu.com. I remember very well the start of
the internet servers and the IS stream. The growing pains and features added
like the filtered feed. I started back in APRS DOS days when there was no
national frequency or digi's/infrastructure. We did things like put the digi
location coordinates in toe the beacon text. Those crude old DOS maps and
all. Loved it then and still love APRS now. Things are different now for
sure. Features or ground breaking new things maybe aren't as dramatic
agreed, but I still don't think it's dying. It's just different. Maybe the
features and such aren't as dramatic these days because what you and other
like Bob did, you got right. Can we do more? For sure! Should we abandon it
or say it should die a natural death because it hasn't gone the way we might
have expected? No. Can it get reinvigorated? I don't see why not. Hell there
is a huge worldwide infrastructure already in place. 

So ARDC might not be the proper vehicle to lead this but as said it is
possible for them to fund a properly submitted effort. TAPR or others might
be a good choice just so that any work would not have to be focused on the
tax/non-profit status, the work of APRS could be the focus. I recently have
expanded what were my traditional lists and information sources for ham
radio. Because of those changes, I am seeing new efforts and vigor by other
groups and mailing lists that cause me to believe the energy and people are
there to do this. If we do nothing and say it's not going to work, well then
eventually that is what will happen. If we believe it can continue then it
will. 

Thank you,
Brian N2KGC


-----Original Message-----
From: aprssig [mailto:aprssig-bounces at lists.tapr.org] On Behalf Of Steve
Dimse
Sent: Wednesday, February 9, 2022 2:54 PM
To: aprssig
Subject: Re: [aprssig] WB4APR SK



> On Feb 9, 2022, at 1:55 PM, Brian Webster <info at wirelessmapping.com>
wrote:
> 
> Bob,
> 	I will respectfully have to disagree with you. APRS have continued
> to evolve and new and fun things have happened over the years. Software
> developers are still actively creating software, other digital modes such
as
> software defined modems like Direwolf are still being actively improved as
> open source projects and those are used in APRS extensively. Linux and the
> AX.25 tools on the kernel just received a grant from the ARDC to fund
coders
> to fix this issues.

If you were around during the period when APRS exploded, roughly 1995 to
2000, you would better understand the difference. There were huge changes
every year. Dayton and DCC were the two events where new features were
shown, and there were always a number of jaw-dropping new things. In 96 I
showed javAPRS, in 97 I showed the beginnings of the APRS IS, in 98 I added
messaging, in 99 there was APRServ, and in 2000 I released findU. It wasn't
that I am a genius programmer, I was just working in an unplowed field. I'm
sure the same features would have happened had I not been involved.  One
could draw the same sort of feature growth with the Sprouls in Mac/WinAPRS,
Brent with APRS+SA. Mike with PalmAPRS, Kenwood, and of course Bob. 

But there just has not been the same kind of growth in features, and without
that there hasn't been the same excitement. If that is ever going to be
rekindled it needs to be now.

Steve K4HG
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