[FADCA] Protocol Warrior behavior:

Wed Dec 29 10:45:21 EST 2004

Yes, certain people need to read this very closely!! It is very well 
written!!
Another thought I have is...any time....during an emergency and during a non 
emergency...I know certain people do not want to hear this but...Compressed 
forwarding... FBB to FBB can move more traffic in the same period of time 
than 4RE to 4RE and the other systems that do not use compressed forwarding. 
Sure this is going to take some more bandwidth than Digital internet but the 
last timer I checked AM and FM broadcast stations nation wide were still on 
the air and who know when it's all over Analog TV may never totally go away.
...Joel N4JOA
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "ke4ini" <ke4ini at earthlink.net>
To: "Florida Amateur Digital Communication Association" 
<fadca at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Wednesday, December 29, 2004 06:33
Subject: Re: [FADCA] Protocol Warrior behavior:


> Could not have said it any better myself i remember the days of node 
> hopping
> and the long keyboard chats at night with  fellow keyboarders in other
> states and even in other countries  but alas the '' packet wars '' shut 
> down
> that route  then the sedan people came and took the remaining routes away
> and fussed every time some one used them for  fun.
>  One note is young people is not interested in  doing things the ''old
> fashion way''  the hobbby is dieing because the hoby has not adapted to 
> the
> changing in the intrests of our young people  prime example is when my
> oldest gran son was 6 he was watchin me do some key boarding and said  pop
> pop why you doing it that way when you can use the internet and be  faster
> and more people can join in , sure woke me up as to how the world has
> changed in 20 plus years.
> John
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "David Calder" <n4zkf at n4zkf.com>
> To: "'Florida Amateur Digital Communication Association'"
> <fadca at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Wednesday, December 29, 2004 6:08 AM
> Subject: [FADCA] Protocol Warrior behavior:
>
>
> This is lengthy but I though it was well written and some would enjoy.
>
> Happy New Year
>
> Dave n4zkf
>
>
>
> Protocol Warrior behavior:
>
> A character flaw common among digital ham radio enthusiasts, where
> consideration of a pet product, project, paradigm, or protocol looms 
> larger
> in their thoughts than any consideration of the amateur radio service
> itself, or of their fellow hams.
>
>
> Most hams have met or known protocol warriors, and they are easy to
> recognize... The protocol warrior is full of certainty that his way, and
> only his way is worthy of consideration. - Hams who do something different
> are ( ignorant, luddites, lids, troublemakers, ) etc., and so are not 
> worthy
>
> of everyday decency, consideration, respect or cooperation.
>
> To a protocol warrior, it is "OK" to undercut or marginalize their fellow
> hams, as long as those hams are doing something different. Since they use 
> a
> "competing" product, project, paradigm, or protocol, then they are the
> "competition", worthy only of hostility.
>
> More than once, I have heard protocol warriors professing a craven,
> shameless eagerness for ham radio's "old guard" to pass away. - Where
> ignorance marries arrogance, there you find a protocol warrior.
>
> This, instead of their treating their fellow hams with the respect,
> consideration and amity that has marked this hobby since its beginning.
>
> Obviously this attitude has no place in Ham Radio - but it has found a way
> into the hobby anyway, and does not appear to be going away on it's own.
> Many digital enthusiasts remember packet radio's protocol wars as a note 
> of
> discord within the hobby from a decade or more ago, not realizing that 
> this
> problem is still with us today.
>
> Just as it was a decade ago, the protocol wars stunt the progress that 
> would
>
> otherwise be possible with digital amateur radio. Protocol Warrior 
> attitudes
>
> have brought digital ham radio in the US to a virtual standstill, making 
> it
> almost impossible to evaluate and apply new technology as it becomes
> available.
>
> Many hams criticize the ARRL for not taking a lead in developing a digital
> ham radio network in the US. - They criticize because they do not 
> understand
>
> that almost every digital proposal the ARRL gets is put forward as a
> "hatchet job" on other methods that are proposed or that are already in 
> use
> by many hams. Everybody seems to want their pet product, project, 
> paradigm,
> or protocol to be given top consideration, at everything and everybody
> else's expense.
>
> TAPR's "IP Only" promotion that they had going through Steve Stroh's 
> column
> in CQ magazine a few years ago is an example of shameless protocol warrior
> behavior. Literally every digital enthusiast who did not care for amateur
> tcpip ( the great majority ) were instantly marginalized and left out by
> this program.
>
> This organization that sees nothing wrong with policy that excludes the
> great majority of hams is looked to for leadership in digital amateur 
> radio.
>
> A recent proposal to the ARRL concerning ARES emergency communications had
> three of the big wheels from SCS communications "packed" into the 
> committee.
>
> SCS is the German company that manufactures the $1,000 PACTOR III modems
> that take up fifteen PSK31 QSO's worth of bandwidth... Want to guess what
> modem and protocol their proposal requires, at the expense of all other
> systems?
>
> I have communicated with this group and they have no interest whatsoever 
> in
> working with anybody doing anything even slightly different. To them,
> cooperation with other hams would be a waste of time. Unprofitable too, I 
> am
>
> sure.
>
> It's precisely this "My way or the Highway" attitude that has made it 
> almost
>
> impossible for the ARRL to act upon the great majority of the proposals 
> they
>
> get. - Most of them are loaded up with this same combination of ignorance
> and arrogance, the kind associated with protocol warrior behavior.
>
> Whatever finally is proposed, good or bad, is immediately attacked. In 
> fact,
>
> it is almost impossible to discuss packet radio networking anywhere 
> without
> being attacked by protocol warriors. It is no different in the ARRL's 
> board
> room, which goes far in explaining the ARRL's general lack of progress 
> with
> digital ham radio.
>
> This is a primary malaise of amateur packet radio in the USA. - Protocol
> Warrior behavior.
>
> How I Won the Protocol Wars
>
> Perhaps because I am an old hand at digital amateur radio and can remember
> how friendly and inclusive packet radio was before the protocol wars, I 
> have
>
> taken an interest in this problem.
>
> Packet radio used to fit in with ham radio a lot better than it does 
> today.
> It used to be mainstream, but now most really decent hams avoid packet -
> because of the intolerant, often nasty "protocol warrior" behavior that is
> so widely associated with amateur packet radio today. Nobody wants discord
> and disharmony, or to be run down because of the equipment or software 
> they
> use.
>
> My first clue in getting past this problem was that in discussions and
> arguements with Protocol Warrior types, they were always outraged at my
> unfairness if I brought up the idea of considering their fellow hams. They
> reacted this way almost every time... This response was so out of whack 
> with
>
> everything I have ever known about ham radio that I immediately recognized
> this as their central weakness, their blind spot; the hole in their 
> internal
>
> logic.
>
> Perhaps the most outrageously anti-ham aspect of protocol warrior 
> thinking,
> I discovered, was the recurring theme of the "protocol" somehow being held
> in higher consideration than people, ( fellow hams ) especially when those
> people use a "competing" protocol. The idea of cooperation with "Joe Ham"
> was just too repugnant to consider. If you are not of the alleged "elite",
> then of course you are out.
>
> This "Them or Us" attitude, being applied against fellow hams who have 
> done
> nothing more offensive than to use different equipment or software is a
> recognized hallmark of the protocol warrior. Again, though this behavior 
> is
> obviously unworthy of the amateur radio service, still it has crept into 
> our
>
> everyday dealings with each other.
>
> Over and over, I saw a lack of respect for their fellow hams, a cynical
> attitude about the hobby, and a basic inability to play well with others 
> as
> outstanding characteristics of the protocol warrior. This told me that a
> good counter-attitude would be to simply respect our fellow hams, and the
> hobby that brings us together to work and play.
>
> As a packet networker, this implied to me that the endless emphasis on
> products, projects, paradigm, and protocol are misplaced. - That the most
> important network component is people, and people who had built working,
> usable network used and enjoyed by average hams are the real experts in 
> the
> art and science of amateur packet radio.
>
> I quit looking at what equipment a digital group was using, or what 
> protocol
>
> they were using and looked at the results they were getting instead. I
> started looking for people who had discovered how to play well together
> because every time I found that, I also found impressive accomplishment no
> matter what kind of equipment they used.
>
> I believe my main points have been made, so now I will invite you to look
> over the NETWORK page here at USPacket, to see the kind of expertise that
> matters in the amateur packet radio world today. - The kind that we need
> more of, just as we need less of the kind of thinking that drives the
> "protocol warrior" in us all.
>
> Charles Brabham, N5PVL
>
> Director: USPacket http://www.uspacket.org
>
> Admin: HamBlog.Com http://www.hamblog.com
>
> Weblog:  http://www.hamblog.com/blog_n5pvl.php
>
>
>
>
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