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It's Ham Vs.Ham As Radio Amateurs Are In Conflict At ARRL (perens.com)
Bruce Perens co-founded the Open Source Initiative with Eric Raymond -- and he's also Slashdot reader #3872. But this week he wrote in with some news from the world of amateur (or "ham") radio:
ARRL has been the USA's representative organization for Amateur Radio for over a century. More recently, the organization has replaced transparency and democratic representation of its membership with confidentiality, policies to stifle dissent, and punishment of their own leadership when they get out of line. A vote happening this month offers members a chance to get back in control.
The open letter at that link -- signed by several AARL life members (including Perens), argues that "The members are not currently represented as they should be, due to the continued application of a policy meant for a for-profit corporate board," adding that "The only whistle-blower on the board was publicly castigated for informing us."
"The currently-suspended rules that go against the member's interest are temporarily suspended, and could be restored."
The open letter at that link -- signed by several AARL life members (including Perens), argues that "The members are not currently represented as they should be, due to the continued application of a policy meant for a for-profit corporate board," adding that "The only whistle-blower on the board was publicly castigated for informing us."
"The currently-suspended rules that go against the member's interest are temporarily suspended, and could be restored."
I don't know, I've been on the other side of that "let's let everyone with a belly button in" attitude before. It doesn't end well. You get a bunch of jerks who don't understand and who don't care what made the community great in the first place. They just want to take, take, take and return nothing. Barriers to entry are a good thing. You don't want the Great Unwashed to spoil your good thing. That's how we ended up with Brexit.
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
A huge clusterfuck, it was. All because a bunch of old guys with an "I had to do it, so everyone should!" attitude.
I've never been part of the ham radio community, but I suspect that this claim is psychologically inaccurate. Instead, could the old-timers have been trying to ensure that their own skills were of central importance in the community?
I am an Amateur Extra and I refuse to be a part of ARRL. They've lost their direction as an advocacy group for amateur radio. They have moved in a direction that is not conducive to promoting the hobby.