[hpsdr] Why?

Wed May 13 10:17:09 PDT 2009

Dear Phil

I have read your "why.html" page with interest. My instinct is to 
sympathise more with your side of the argument, though possibly 
deprecate your tactics.   I wonder if you could explain why you did not 
want TAPR to produce more Ozymandias boards?   Was it because you 
believed another commercial source would appear:  and, if so, did it? 
I ask partly to clarify the disagreements, but also in case I need 
another Ozy board!

Roger GW8BFO

In message <32aa05ee0905130706q506f354h1733a118b1802ec6 at mail.gmail.com>, 
Philip Covington <p.covington at gmail.com> writes
>***** High Performance Software Defined Radio Discussion List *****
>
>If this actually makes it to the list, my responses to these "claims"
>are posted to:
>
>< http://hpsdr.org/why.html>
>
>I will post my responses there (with updates) to avoid being
>"moderated" here again.
>
>Phil N8VB
>
>
>
>On Wed, May 13, 2009 at 7:46 AM, John Ackermann N8UR <jra at febo.com> wrote:
>> ***** High Performance Software Defined Radio Discussion List *****
>>
>> I'm one of the people who was involved in the events.  We don't really know
>> what led Phil to take the action he did; it came out of the blue, which was
>> one of the troubling aspects.
>>
>> Phil later gave some explanations in private email.  In my view, they in no
>> way justified the action he took.  Further, Phil's email gave no indication
>> that he wouldn't do the same thing again if he disagreed with the way the
>> HPSDR project was being managed.  As a result, I felt the existence of HPSDR
>> was being held hostage by one person, and that something needed to be done.
>>
>> There is no formal HPSDR organization.  I guess that's a blessing or a
>> curse, depending on the circumstances.  I can say that the people who were
>> involved in the decisions of the last few weeks represent most of those who
>> are associated with the main HPSDR project set and with the administration
>> of the web site and mailing list.
>>
>> openhpsdr.org is currently being maintained by TAPR at the request of that
>> core group.
>>
>> To my knowledge, none of the people in that group have a personal financial
>> interest in any of the HPSDR projects.  I am a TAPR board member, and of
>> course TAPR has had a financial involvement in production of HPSDR boards;
>> as I mentioned in my post yesterday, that happens on a case-by-case basis
>> solely at the developer's discretion.
>>
>> John N8UR
>> OHL and NCL Author
>> Pandora Project Manager
>> ----
>> Chris Down said the following on 05/13/2009 04:34 AM:
>>>
>>> ***** High Performance Software Defined Radio Discussion List *****
>>>
>>> Unfortunately this explanation lacks any detail as to what led Phil C to
>>> to take such drastic action. Would it be possible for someone to explain the
>>> sequence of events that led to this unfortunate and unnecessary situation.
>>> As I said in my previous email, I am not taking any sides (I have never had
>>> any contact with Phil C), it is just that a lot of people  have invested
>>> time and money into the HPSDR project.
>>>
>>> I have been passively following this project for a while and contemplating
>>> getting involved in the project, however after recent events I have some
>>> concerns.
>>>
>>> Who makes the decisions on the direction of the project?
>>>
>>> Do any of these people have any commercial interests that could influence
>>> the direction of the project? If so this should be stated publicly on the
>>> web site.
>>>
>>> Who owns and controls the domain name openhpsdr.org? Unfortuantely the
>>> owner as opted to protect the details by using a private registration proxy.
>>>
>>> What safeguards are in place to prevent a similar situation occurring in
>>> future?
>>>
>>> How many people have administration rights to the wiki and website and who
>>> are these people?
>>>
>>> Do you intend to allow registered members to edit wiki pages?
>>>
>>> Perhaps the answers to the above should be documented as an overview of
>>> the project administration structure on a wiki page.
>>>
>>> Is there anything that can be done to reconcile the parties involved in
>>> this? Perhaps people on both sides have acted impulsively and said and done
>>> things that with hindsight could have been presented differently and maybe
>>> now is the time to admit that, shake hands and move forward in the interests
>>> of the community.
>>>
>>> Sorry to ask so many questions and I know we would all rather be dealing
>>> with technical issues. However I feel it is important to understand why this
>>> situation occurred and what we as a community can do to prevent it happening
>>> again and also prevent a split in the community.
>>>
>>> Regards
>>>
>>> Chris G8MXW
>>>
>>> On 13/05/2009 00:01, Bill Tracey wrote:
>>>>
>>>> ***** High Performance Software Defined Radio Discussion List *****
>>>>
>>>> The actions that Phil C. mentions on his web page all occurred after
>>>> Phil disabled hpsdr.org on or about the 12th of April, by redirecting it
>>>> to a "dummy" site. In addition to disabling the web site, this action
>>>> also disabled the mailing list so it was impossible to communicate to
>>>> the group what was happening. This was done with no warning to the
>>>> webmaster or system administrator, and with no explanation as to why it
>>>> was done. As a result of that action and further communications with
>>>> Phil C, there was great concern that the web site and mailing list were
>>>> at risk, and that a similar disruption could occur in the future.
>>>>
>>>> With great reluctance it was felt we had no choice but to put controls
>>>> in place that would limit the damage that could be done to the HPSDR
>>>> Internet resources. That included transition to a new domain
>>>> (openhpsdr.org) that Phil C. does not control, as well as protecting the
>>>> wiki from unlimited editing by someone who had clearly indicated he was
>>>> at odds with the direction of the project. Finally, Phil C. is incorrect
>>>> in saying that he was blocked from posting to the mailing list; he was
>>>> put on moderated status to allow review of his messages before posting,
>>>> but not unsubscribed or otherwise blocked.
>>>
>>>> I do not believe anyone is trying to deny Phil C's significant
>>>> contributions to the HPSDR project. However, his recent actions
>>>> endangered the project itself and actions were taken to protect the
>>>> project that we've all invested much time and effort in.
>>>
>>>>
>>>> I was involved in the discussions among many of the HPSDR contributors
>>>> behind these actions and support the actions that were taken.
>>>>
>>>> As to why this was done 'behind the scenes' - it was felt it would be
>>>> better to try and do this without having a nasty ugly fight in public.
>>>> In hind sight that may not have been the best approach.
>>>>
>>>> I hope this answers everyone's questions on what has happened, and we
>>>> can soon return to working on the HPSDR projects.
>>>>
>>>> Regards,
>>>>
>>>> Bill (kd5tfd)
>>>
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