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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."
[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."
I only had very few interactions with Lilo, but he was always friendly and polite when I did. I am a long time user of FreeNode and a long time Wikipedian. The network has been invaluable to our community, and while of course a project like FreeNode is very much collaborative, I think he personally represented many of the core values that make it a great place for open source and free content projects. This is a very sad day. May he idle in peace. :-(
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.
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The first time I read the headline I was confused about what it meant. Was there some sort of position he turned down? Did he quit an important job?
I've always despised death euphamisms, though. Trying to tone the tragedy down doesn't make it any easier to deal with for friends, families, or looker-ons. It also takes away from the importance of the death itself.
He's dead. The man was killed in an auto accident. It's a sad, tragic ending, but it's the truth.
The next Slashdot story will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and slashdot the links early!
I would estimate that Freenode was responsible for more realtime communication between developers and between users/support than any other single medium, and as such it was and is a major asset to the open source movement. It has undoubtedly helped make many projects much better than would have otherwise been possible/workable.
As a legacy, I'd say that's a pretty good one to leave.
"I object to doing things that computers can do." -- Olin Shivers, lispers.org
I've got no problem with friends and family members using passive, religiously charged euphemisms when discussing death. If people find it easier to talk about their sister having "passed," that's fine by me.
But when it comes to journalism (or the slashdot equivalent), it comes off as silly at best and offensive at worst.
Rob Levin didn't pass. He didn't "Pass", pass on, nor pass away. He DIED, and he was KILLED. This isn't just death, but death in a horrible, violent, disturbing way.
Getting your head smashed in by an automobile and living for painful hours in a hospital critical care ward isn't gentle. It's horrible, and cruel, and ugly. Using gentle words to describe it doesn't make it any less so. It does us all a disservice by belittling the tragedy of what has actually happened.
Car drivers, especially in the United States, have absolutely 0 regard for bike riders. A professor did an interesting study about how close cars come to bikers when they wear helmets versus when they don't. Not to mention in San Francisco they recently delayed a resolution that would build bike paths across the city so that bike riders didn't have to deal with ignorant SUV driving assholes too busy talking on their phone to notice a bike rider. /Rant
Sorry for the strong language, but as a bike rider car drivers in America for the most part just totally piss me off. I have to spend my tax money attacking some random oil rich country so you can drive your SUVs, but you get all in a tizzy when I want a bike path so I don't have to worry about you hitting me even though I have as much a right to the road as you do.
Ignorant car drivers disgust me.
Monstar L