John, I am sorry to hear about the cancer and I pray that you be cured soon.
Doc (David?), much of your comments are very good but there is one point I would like to disagree with: the Winlink Development Team is very cooperative with people who want to add support for Linux (and I assume OSX). They have gone so far as to make certain code available. Granted, this is not open source but it is very, very cooperative. They have also gone a long way to support MARS usage. WL2K fits MARS much better because of the channelized and controlled frequencies. In my opinion, the automatic operation should continue to be limited on the ham bands until busy detection is implemented. You probably know this already but just in case, there is a package called Mono that allows you to run .NET programs on Linux. It may be possible to run WL2K (the PMBO code) with this tool. Also, there is a Linux version of TelPac. Those of us who want to use Linux will need to help work on those versions. Howard --- In digitalradio@yahoogroups.com, kd4e <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I am very sorry to read about the return of your > cancer, nasty plague upon humanity that. I have > prayed in agreement for God's healing and wisdom > for the medical professionals. > > I was pleased to read your reference to the abuse > of common courtesy and voluntary spectrum sharing > that occurs during many (most?) contests and what > that suggests about the probability of future conflict > among users of various modes should the proposal to > abandon all boundaries be approved. > > I have used multiple digital modes in the past and > anticipate doing so in the future. When Pactor changed > from an open protocol to a costly proprietary one I > stopped using it. Winlink has never been an option > because I use Linux and Winlink is another proprietary > protocol. Considering all of the open source/non- > proprietary digital modes neither Pactor II/III or > Winlink are necessary to the enjoyment or strategic > use of digital modes. > > However, one does not need to be a drunk to understand > that the abuse of alcohol is destructive to the body, > nor does one need to operate any specific mode to > observe and/or understand the way it is used in the > real world. Let's not attempt to narrow legitimate > input only to Pactor and Winlink operators. > > I fail to discern any value in questioning the legitimacy > of the commonly used terms to describe direct operator > control, semi-automatic control, and full automatic control, > they are self-defining and represent the three categories > of real-world operation. Their relative legality is a > matter for the FCC to clarify, but they certainly do exist, > often in actual & documented practice though denied by > the tiny minority who are misusing them. > > Unless the FCC budgets a large increase in enforcement > resources Amateur Radio will remain a largely self- > policing hobby. This means that the FCC must establish > clear boundaries, mandatory common-mode identification > of all transmissions, and rapid-response resolution of > chronic conflicts. > > In the big picture this is less about digital modes and > more about a sensible policy that redirects Hams away > from their natural human selfishness and toward more > courteous conduct - before the conflicts - not wisely > minimized, balloons further out of control. > > > [snip] > -- > > Thanks! & 73, doc, KD4E > Personal: http://bibleseven.com/kd4e.html > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ham-macguyver/ > Ham House & 10 Acres For Sale in Florida: > http://mysite.verizon.net/kd4e/ >
