XPost: rec.radio.amateur.misc, rec.radio.amateur.antenna, rec.ra   
   io.amateur.digital.misc   
   XPost: rec.radio.amateur.homebrew   
   From: pschleck@novia.net   
      
   The Amateur Radio Elmers Resource Directory, a list of experts, mentors,   
   and gurus for amateur radio on the Internet, went on indefinite hiatus   
   on June 1, 2000 after just over 9 years of service.  This decision was   
   not forced upon me by anyone for any particular legal or technical   
   reason.  Rather, I decided to retire from maintenance to focus on other   
   personal and professional interests and obligations.   
      
   I also felt that I had taken this project to the limit of my expertise   
   and spare time in terms of format, visibility, automation of   
   maintenance, effective recruiting, and even good Web design.  It's clear   
   that the Internet had changed greatly over the 9 years that the   
   Directory had been in existence.  The Directory had evolved from a flat   
   text file edited on a VAX running VMS to a well-featured Web site.   
   However, in that time, much better amateur radio-related web sites had   
   emerged (including QRZ, Ham Radio Online, and ARRL) that make my site   
   rather simplistic by comparison.  Also, it's clear that many more   
   enhancements would be required to make the Directory more maintainable   
   and secure.  One requirement that the Directory did not address is   
   reasonably shielding the Elmers from having their E-mail addresses   
   harvested for junk-mail distribution lists.   
      
   I want to emphasize that I do believe that using the Internet, the   
   Usenet Newsgroups, and the World-Wide Web to bring Elmers and amateurs   
   requiring assistance together continues to be worthwhile.  Because of   
   this, I would consider a highly-qualified and motivated volunteer to   
   take it over immediately.  The Directory consisted of a moderate number   
   of large text files, scripts, and other configuration files.  It's   
   neatly arranged, and can probably be easily transplanted to another   
   Unix/Linux environment.  I would also be willing to assist with   
   importing the data into a database such as mySQL.  To help transition   
   this project to another maintainer, I had prepared a maintainer's guide,   
   available on request.  The ideal candidate will be a motivated   
   self-starter and self-teacher possessing several years of experience in:   
      
   - Unix/Linux   
   - C or Java   
   - HTML   
   - Perl or Python   
   - Procmail   
   - Version control systems such as SCCS, RCS, CVS, etc.   
      
   (this also implies that you have the above tools installed in your   
   environment)   
      
   preferably on or more of the following:   
      
   - SQL   
   - PHP   
   - CSS   
      
   and have approximately 4-6 hours of spare time per month for   
   maintenance. A track history of successfully completing projects would   
   be a firm requirement.  Please note that hosting sites are already   
   available.  Offers to host the project, but not maintain it, are not   
   being sought at this time.   
      
   Familiarity with news.answers formatting conventions and the auto-faq   
   FAQ Management and Posting Package would be a plus.  Concrete proposals   
   for enhancing the Directory to be a top-10 amateur-radio-related Web   
   site would also be desirable.  I would also consider the Directory being   
   incorporated into an existing commercial amateur-radio-related Web site   
   as long as the essential non-commercial character of the Directory was   
   maintained.   
      
   If you feel that you possess the interest, motivation, and immediate,   
   hit-the-ground-running, skill set to do this, please send your statement   
   of interest and any proposals you wish to make regarding your plans for   
   future enhancements to elmers-request@novia.net.   
      
   I would like to thank all of the volunteer Elmers, as well as courteous   
   users of the Directory, for making this service a success, as well as an   
   enjoyable experience for me over 9 years.   
      
   --   
   73, Paul W. Schleck, K3FU   
   elmers-request@novia.net   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)