Re: It is time for me to depart.
Dear Luke, Dear Samuel, Dear All,
We in BRAILCOM are very thankful for the good work that Luke Yelavich has
put into the Speech Dispatcher project by contributing to its development
as well as by guiding and helping other contributors and putting their improvements
together to produce solid and stable releases. Luke, we thank you very much
for all of this, it was not a small thing, and we wish you lot of luck with whatever
projects or activities you are going to pursue in the future. At the same time,
if you ever wish to contribute again to the collective effort that stands behind
the development of Speech Dispatcher, you are warmly welcome, do not
doubt it.
Samuel Thibault stepped forward and kindly offered help with maintaining
the Speech Dispatcher project in the future. We gladly accept this offer
as Samuel is also a long-term contributor to the project, knowledgable
not only about its technical implementation but also about its design,
intents and philosophy. Also to you Samuel, we thank you very much
and we wish you that this work brings you joy.
We understand that the time that Samuel can spend on the project
is limited and we hope others will continue helping with their
contributions and improvements which are indispensable for this
collaborative project.
We still think that Speech Dispatcher is very relevant, perhaps even more
than before. As both speech synthesis solutions and assistive technologies
such as screen readers continue improving, user interactions with computers
are getting more sophisticated, the need for effective coordination of assistive
messages are getting evermore important. The same is true for having an
easy and effective high-level interface between ATs and speech.
The last thing that I want to mention, we think that it would be fitting
at this point to move the project codebase to GitHub as it would make
it technically easier to contribute and to track issues, especially for
new people. We will prepare this transition and coordinate on it
with Samuel.
Kind regards to you all,
Hynek & the team at BRAILCOM
--
Mgr. Hynek Hanke | BRAILCOM, o.p.s.
hanke@brailcom.org | http://www.brailcom.org
> 8. 11. 2017 v 2:46, Luke Yelavich <themuso@themuso.com>:
>
> It is with an extremely heavy heart that I write to you all to announce my
> departure from free and open source software development. GNU/Linux and free
> and open source software development has been a part of my life for well over
> a decade, some high points being my employment at Canonical for over 9 years,
> and the opportunity to maintain a free software project, Speech Dispatcher.
>
> I care very deeply about GNU/Linux accessibility, and free and open source
> software. I strongly believe that the philosophy behind free software is key
> to a better future for this world. However, I have lacked motivation of late,
> and the current state of accessibility on GNU/Linux, as well as the lack of
> funding for it, has not helped. I also would like to spend more time on other
> tallants I have, which have been neglected somewhat until recently, and are
> more likely to bring in a source of income in the future.
>
> I am sure I will return one day, with renewed motivation, enthusiasm, and a
> desire to contribute again. I am also sure I will be keeping watch on what
> transpires in this community, and since I will still be using GNU/Linux, I
> may still submit a bug fix from time to time for anything that I find
> particularly annoying.
>
> I step down from my positions as Vinux lead developer, and as Speech
> Dispatcher maintainer with pride and joy at what has been achieved. I am
> sorry that I have not fully helped to realize a renewed Vinux distribution
> based on Fedora, but I am sure that no matter what direction the Vinux
> project chooses to go, it will be lead well, and received well by the
> community.
>
> I will be closing my patreon campaign. To those who have supported me
> financially, I thank you deeply. Your support has been much appreciated. You
> know who you are.
>
> I am so grateful for the time I have spent in this community. I have learnt
> much, and have shared knowledge with others, and both the learning and
> sharing have always been a pleasure and a joy. It has also been a pleasure to
> talk to, and work with the free software community at large, but I would
> particularly like to thank a few people.
>
> To Rob Whyte, leader of the Vinux project, I owe a particularly heart felt
> thank you. You have been a rock and confidant when I have needed someone to
> talk to, as well as someone who I could blow off steam with, when things have
> been rough. It has been an honour, and a pleasure, to work with, and get to
> know you. Feel free to contact me any time if you want to chat.
>
> To everybody at Brailcom, particularly Hynek Hanke, Tomas Cerha, and Jan
> Buchal, I would like to thank for having given me the opportunity to maintain
> the Speech Dispatcher project. I had many plans to improve Speech Dispatcher,
> and I am sorry that these were not realized. I am sure the Speech Dispatcher
> project will still be relevant and developed going forward, and I am sure a
> maintainer can be found in the community. I wish that maintainer well.
>
> I also have to thank Canonical for giving me a chance and a job. I had the
> opportunitiy to work with some wonderful people while there, and I am happy
> to have learnt so much, particularly when it comes to building and developing
> a GNU/Linux distribution.
>
> Finally, I would like to thank the community. It has been a pleasure talking
> with you all, bouncing around ideas, discussing functionality, collectively
> digging into problems and solving them together. This last decade would have
> been for nothing if it weren't for all of us, whether we be users,
> developers, helpers, doc writers, etc. For now, I plan to exit for a while,
> and watch from the sidelines, but I do hope to return as a more active
> community member again, in the future.
>
> I wish you all well. You will not be forgotten.
>
> With kindest regards and best wishes.
> Luke
>
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