[Ham-Mac] LotW - Reply from Hudson Division Director

[harris ruben]

I have received this letter from Frank Fallon, the Hudson Division 
Director of the ARRL, and pass it on for what it's worth. Keep that 
mail flowing, guys! Let's be heard!

>Harris,
>
>I am sorry that as a Mac user you are not going to be able to 
>participate in the beta test of LOTW.
>
>As I am sure you are aware the Mac has a much smaller installed base 
>when compared to IBM. The ARRL decision not to directly support the 
>Mac platform is a financial decision rather than an elitist or 
>discriminatory one as you claim.  We do not have anyone on staff 
>involved with implementation who is proficient with Mac.  It 
>certainly would be nice to be able to support Macs too but in this 
>case that is not a good financial decision and that is what the ARRL 
>Board tries to make - good financial decisions. I know that is not 
>what you want to hear but it is something the Board must do if ARRL 
>is to continue to survive.  ARRL will shortly provide the source 
>code once the beta test period is finished.
>
>I sent a message to our programmer earlier today and here was his response:
>
>The source code for the software will be made available soon, and 
>our hope is that some Mac developer will step forward to do a port 
>to the Mac. We carefully chose the components (libraries, etc) of 
>the software to ensure that Mac ports exist for each component. So 
>it should be relatively easy to do the port for someone who is 
>equipped and experienced in Mac development, which we are not.
>
>Of course, since that will depend on someone volunteering; we can't 
>guarantee it will happen.
>
>As a Mac user I would encourage you to find someone ham in the Mac 
>community who might have the necessary skills to perform the task. 
>You may not be aware but the current IBM software library was the 
>work of ARRL member volunteers and not ARRL staff or hired 
>consultants.
>
>I also had the following message from Mark Wilson at HQ:
>
>If you receive any correspondence about the Mac issue, please feel 
>free to forward it to Dave Patton here at HQ 
>(<mailto:nt1n@arrl.org>nt1n@arrl.org) for a response.
>
>I wish I could you a different answer but I can't.
>
>73 de Frank Fallon....N2FF.....
>Hudson Division Director
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: <mailto:n2ern@arrl.net>n2ern
>To: <mailto:n2ff@arrl.org>n2ff@arrl.org ; <mailto:w2ml@arrl.org>w2ml@arrl.org
>Sent: Monday, May 19, 2003 12:05 PM
>Subject: LotW - Macintosh Support
>
>Frank and Steve:
>It appears, from the League's announcement of LotW, that the 
>software will only be available for Windows and Linux platforms.
>
>My correspondence with the LotW people confirms that NO ATTEMPT will 
>be made to support Macintosh users.
>
>Now, this is a LEAGUE project. While I have no problems with 
>independent developers producing single-platform-dependent software, 
>I DO have an issue with the League's position. After all, MY dues 
>are going to support this project.
>
>It is elitist and discriminatory for the League to take this 
>position. Logbook of the World is supposed to provide electronic 
>logging under the league's auspices, and their position is going to 
>lock me and other Mac users out.
>
>I urge you to bring this issue up at the next board meeting and try 
>to correct this error of thinking. And, if I remember correctly, the 
>League actually uses macs to produce QST and other publications, so 
>the platform is not alien to them.
>
>Corporations go out of their way to be sure that their websites run 
>properly under all platforms and browsers. The league should do the 
>same.
>
>The way of the future MUST include Macintosh users.
>
>Thanks in advance for your support.
>
>Harris Ruben, N2ERN


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