Rob Levin, lilo of FreeNode, Passes

sneak was the first of many to tell us of the death of Rob Levin, known as lilo, the head of FreeNode and of its parent organization, PDPC. A transcript from the channel: ".:17:18:40:. [freenode] -christel(i=christel@freenode/staff/gentoo.christe l)-
[Global Notice] On the 12th September Rob Levin, known to many as Freenode's
lilo, was hit by a car while riding his bike. He suffered head injuries and
passed away in hospital on the 16th. For more information please visit
#freenode-announce
17:19:39==> Topic for #freenode-announce: Together with the PDPC board we are
currently preparing a general announcement, please also feel assured that we will
continue working with PDPC to ensure continuous service on freenode, in line with Rob's
mission." Richard Hartmann writes, I just wanted to add that we of FreeNode will create a condolence book. All wellwishes can be sent to condolences@freenode.net."

Comments

Just announced in #freenode-announce

[Richard_at_work]

22:58 +christel: Ok, first off, this is not a hoax
22:59 +christel Rob was riding his bike on tuesday when he was hit by a car, he has spent the last few days at the neuro trauma ICU at a local hospital 22:59 +christel: where he has been in a coma
22:59 +christel: the news reached us this morning that Rob passed away early today
23:00 +christel: and we ask that you all respect their privacy at this difficult time
23:01 +christel: Robs funeral is most likely to be monday afternoon, although we have yet to get confirmation as Debs is waiting to hear from the MEs office that it can go ahead as planned 23:01 +christel: and for those local, wishing to show their respects at his funeral, we ask that you email staff@freenode.net and we will try direct you as we can
23:02 +christel: We will take some questions now and try answer them in channel, it would be appreciated if those with questions message beu, and we will answer on channel
23:02 +christel: thank you

My condolances to Robs friends and family.

More Info

[ballermann]

christel just posted the following in #freenode-announce

christel> Ok, first off, this is not a hoax
christel> Rob was riding his bike on tuesday when he was hit by a car, he has spent the last few days at the neuro trauma ICU at a local hospital
christel> where he has been in a coma
christel> the news reached us this morning that Rob passed away early today
christel> Rob is survived by wife Debbie and son Benjamin
christel> and we ask that you all respect their privacy at this difficult time
christel> Robs funeral is most likely to be monday afternoon, although we have yet to get confirmation as Debs is waiting to hear from the MEs office that it can go ahead as planned
christel> and for those local, wishing to show their respects at his funeral, we ask that you email staff@freenode.net and we will try direct you as we can
christel> We will take some questions now and try answer them in channel, it would be appreciated if those with questions message beu, and we will answer on channel
christel> thank you
christel> the first question we've had is "What happens to freenode?"
beu> to answer the "who verified this?" question, members of freenode staff have been in contact with Rob's family over the past few days
christel> it is Debs wishes that freenode keeps running as close to normal as possible, and we will be working with the PDPC board to ensure that the network keeps running
beu> we are currently formulating an announcement and hope to have it online soon, in addition to an online "book of condolences"
christel> it has also been asked why lilos client is still connected
christel> i am sure you will all agree that at this point in time, we feel uncomfortable killing his client and find the mere idea rather morbid
christel> Robs nicknames will be quarantined to prevent abuse.
christel> A lot of people have asked how they can help
christel> Debs requests has been that people who knew Rob could donate to PDPC in his memory, or those wishing to make a more general contribution could give something to a bicycle safety campaign in their area.

Re:More Info

[tonsofpcs]

From #freenode-announce
18:03:10 <+christel> the first question we've had is "What happens to freenode?"
18:04:09 <+christel> it is Debs wishes that freenode keeps running as close to normal as possible, and we will be working with the PDPC board to
                    ensure that the network keeps running
18:05:04 <+christel> it has also been asked why lilos client is still connected
18:05:28 <+christel> i am sure you will all agree that at this point in time, we feel uncomfortable killing his client and find the mere idea
                    rather morbid
18:05:44 <+christel> Robs nicknames will be quarantined to prevent abuse.
18:06:01 <+christel> A lot of people have asked how they can help
18:07:07 <+christel> Debs requests has been that people who knew Rob could donate to PDPC in his memory, or those wishing to make a more general
                    contribution could give something to a bicycle safety campaign in their area.
18:08:32 <+christel> we will also try to coordinate so that we can get some things together for Debs and Benjamin, but at this point in time she
                    has no particular wishes in that regard. Those wishing to help his family however, are encouraged to get in touch with us per email
                    (again staff@freenode.net) and we will try connect you with those in the area that are coordinating support.
18:08:53 <+christel> "Should lilo's fellow Jews sit shiva for 30 days as is tradition?"
18:09:17 <+christel> I am not jewish, and I dont know much about jewish traditions, so i will leave that up to each and every one of you
                    individually
18:09:25 <+christel> "Where, as in city and state, would the funeral be?
18:09:37 <+christel> Rob lived in Houston, Texas and the funeral will be held there
18:10:08 <+christel> "was lilo wearing a helmet and was the car driver responsible? if they are responsible will they be charged?"
18:10:33 <+christel> lilo was not wearing a helmet, we are unsure at this point about what will happen wrt the driver of the car
18:11:30 <+christel> from what we know, it was a hit and run
18:11:37 <+christel> and the driver has not yet been found
18:12:51 <+christel> Any other questions?
18:15:14 <+christel> I am recieving a lot of priv messages, and I am afraid I can't quite manage to reply to each and every one of you at the
                    moment, but I would like to thank you for the support and condolences
18:16:36 <+christel> "will the name lilo still be in use on the server? be it as a bot, or otherwise?" We will q-line the nick to prevent it
                    from being used.
18:20:48 <+christel> it has been asked why lilos client is idle only 27 hours, the reason for that is most likely scripts running

Another one?

[MichaelSmith]

As a bike rider myself the first thing I thought of was the death in March of Richard Rauch.

This is sad news. My sympathies to his family.

What he had to say about himself on Wiki.

[twitter]

User Rob Levin.

As the cars get bigger, bike riding is scarier but remains my only convenient daily exercise.

Re:Rest in Peace :-(

[Jon Chatow]

As someone who ended up talking to Rob on IRC every couple of days for over a year, and several times by 'phone, I can attest to this absolutely; his help to me in running the Wikimedia IRC channels was both invaluable and amazingly forth-coming - he was seemingly always available, and never anything other than friendly and massively helpful, even for the most tiresome and stupid of questions that I managed to come up with. Good bye, Rob. We will miss you. James F. Wikimedia GC.

Re:Why car drivers suck

[Timesprout]

Could not agree more. I have ridden and raced bikes all over Europe for years without concern. A few years ago I made the foolish decision to take my bike on vacation to Florida with me to help recover from an injury. I though the a few km in the heat would do me good. 10 mins on a fairly busy road scared the bejesus out of me. Its like I was invisible on US tarmac or something, drivers storming past at 70-80 kph just centimeters from me, not one made the slightest effort to give me any space. Not an experience I am keen to repeat.

Re:Who hit him?

[bcmm]

to err is human

Granted, but this was a hit-and-run. That means that after hitting him, the driver drove off to avoid having to face the consequences, probably lengthening the time it took for help to arrive. That isn't an error, it's a deliberate, selfish attempt to get himself off the hook. I hope someone witnessed it and got the licence plate number, because IIRC the driver can go to prison for not stopping.

BTW I don't agree with the GP, I just don't think "to err is human" applies here.

Please wear a helmet

[spun]

18:10:08 "was lilo wearing a helmet and was the car driver responsible? if they are responsible will they be charged?"
18:10:33 lilo was not wearing a helmet, we are unsure at this point about what will happen wrt the driver of the car

This is not to blame lilo in any way for not wearing a helmet, but please, let's learn from what happened here. Always wear a helmet when riding a bike. The speed you are going doesn't matter, it's the distance from your head to the ground, which is the same on a bike as it is on a motorcycle. My life was probably saved once because I was wearing a helmet when I hit a pothole after coming off a long hill. Bike helmets nowadays are light-weight and not at all dorky looking.

Again, the driver is to blame for this, not lilo. Doubly so as they fled the scene, when perhaps if they had stayed and summoned help immediately, lilo might have survived.

Rest in peace, lilo. My condolences go out to his family.