[aprssig] APRS Foundation Membership is NOW OPEN!

[Steve Dimse]

Congrats to the APRS Foundation for going live. A lot of work has gone on behind the scenes to get to this point, but what happens next is up to all of you.

First, as an old man, I am contractually obligated to start with a history lesson. In the beginning there was Bob, and APRS only ran on DOS. Bob wasn't a programmer and had no interest in learning anything more modern than DOS. In the mid-90s the Sproul brothers decided to write a Mac version, and later added Windows. They made a deal with Bob to split their registration fees. He never got rich from APRS, but the earnings were put into his daughter's college fund, I suspect mostly as a way to justify the time he spent away from the family playing with computers and radios. 

In 1996 I wrote javAPRS which ran in a browser. I did not charge, either to use it on the web, or to create your own web site using it, so there was no money to share with Bob. This greatly angered Bob. We would butt heads over the next five years, though in the end he did come to accept that javAPRS and the rest of the APRS Internet System I created had greatly expanded the world of APRS and helped his income. Other early APRS programs like APRS+SA, PalmAPRS, etc. made deals with Bob as well.

The problem was part of the deals Bob made was exclusivity. No one else could make a Windows or Mac version unless the Sprouls approved it, no other Palm version unless Mike Musick approved, etc. We fought over this for a while, and it came to a head in 2003 when a number of new developers started getting dumped on as I was in the beginning as Bob tried to protect his income. Most of our fights over the years were private but this was very public and nasty. Best community comment: "This is like watching your parents fight!" Ultimately I won, leading to the creation of the APRS Working Group and the APRS Spec, opening APRS to any developer. 

Over the years the Working Group never did much else than create the spec as the early developers drifted away, and Bob became the guardian of the spec by default, with me acting to put brakes on his crazier ideas. While he was terminal we had a lot of talks about the future of APRS. He wanted me to take over everything he did, which I have no interest in. I agreed to take back aprs.org <http://aprs.org/> (I had registered it in 1997 when I got aprs.net <http://aprs.net/>, and transferred it to him when he was ready to do his own web site separate from the USNA).

I told him my plan was to encourage formation of a new organization similar to TAPR that would represent all APRS users and developers, something I had wanted him to do for decades, and he agreed to that. Jeff et. al. was the only group that showed interest when I explained my plan after Bob's death. It has taken a while, but they are incorporated and accepting members. I required them to have an open membership before I gave them access to the aprs.org <http://aprs.org/> web site. I did that this morning, and I will transfer the domain before it comes up for renewal in April. Bob wanted to give me the APRS trademark, but I had no interest in the hassle, so I recommended he give it to TAPR for safekeeping (N8UR is a retired IP lawyer), and if the Foundation takes off I expect TAPR will transfer it there. 

So as I said, what happens now is up to you. For the first time in its thirty-odd year history, APRS has the chance to be a community steered entity, but only if you join me in supporting the APRS Foundation.

Don't blow it!

Steve K4HG




> On Aug 29, 2024, at 8:30 AM, Jeff Hochberg <jeffh at aprsfoundation.org> wrote:
> 
> APRS Foundation Membership is live! Membership is available to anyone anywhere across the globe! You don’t need to be a licensed amateur radio operator to join!
> 
> We evaluated several membership management platforms and selected a relative newcomer in the space - Raklet.
> 
> Visit the Membership page on the Foundation for details and the link to the membership management application:
> 
> https://www.aprsfoundation.org/membership
> 
> If you aren’t a licensed amateur radio operator, enter “NOCALL” in the callsign field when submitting the form.
> 
> To give an idea of the benefits of membership, we took a poll last week to determine the level of interest in an APRS Foundation-sponsored event to be held around Dayton Hamvention 2025. 
> 
> Your APRS Foundation Membership would allow you to attend the event for free, whereas non-members would have to pay USD $15.00.
> 
> So, right away, one event pays for the event and helps support our operating expenses! And that's just the beginning!
> 
> We are excited to have you join us in Ensuring the Future of APRS!
> 
> Thanks for your patience and understanding!
> 
> Best Regards and 73,
> 
> -JeffH
> 
> 
> -- 
> Jeffrey Hochberg - W4JEW
> President
> APRS Foundation Inc
> 
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