Text 22008, 192 rader
Skriven 2015-03-26 17:22:05 av Lee Lofaso (2:203/2)
Ärende: FidoNews 32:12 [03/08]: General Articles
================================================
FR> GENERAL ARTICLES
FR> Roy Witt RIP
FR> By Michiel van der Vlist: 2:280/5555
FR> Yesterday I got an e-mail from andru boz. He is the friend that
FR> looks after Roy's house. He got my e-mail address from Roy's neigh-
FR> bour who I spoke to on the phone last Tuesday. andru boz is listed
FR> as 1:387/23 (Pvt). Andrew agreed to have this published.
FR> This is what Andrew had to say:
Very touching, and shows how caring Roy really was inside.
Online personalities and real life personalities can be two
very different things, complete opposites in some cases.
Email deleted for brevity, not out of disrespect.
FR> Time to reflect - No more Roy Witt
FR> Ward Dossche - 2:292/854
FR> Who ever would have believed I would be writing an obituary
FR> for Roy Witt?
FR> No way, Roy Witt cannot die! And yet he has.
Roy Witt will live forever, just like Jesus, having
moved on from Fidonet to Fidolore! Of course, that is
only true for those who believe in the Resurrection ...
FR> His last message in an echo dated from January 17th, 2 months
FR> ago, and though he has had absences from the network, this was
FR> not his style.
The guy was a Fido addict. Without his daily fix, he simply
could not function. Not in a normal manner, anyway.
FR> Remarkably enough, it were the people in zone-2 that started
FR> noticing his absence, was it the lack of noise, the lack of
FR> insults, no more "diarhea is flowing from your mouth" nor the
FR> amounts of shit that were claimed to be contained in yours
FR> truly which would have taken care of any fertilisation problem
FR> anywhere in the world.
Roy seemed to be the type of person who truly enjoyed Fidonet,
or rather the community of sysops (and participants) who made
up Fidonet. If only all participants (sysops and non-sysops)
had the same enthusiasm as Roy this would be one ass-kicking
network.
FR> The news, if it was news, was conflicting but the writings on
FR> the wall were obvious … phone numbers disconnected, binkd-
FR> servers obviously "down" as if someone shut 'm off and an
FR> overall denial-mode … "he will be back" …
Unfortunately there are no massive hurricanes like Katrina
that strike San Antonio ...
FR> Well, he won't be back and I'm afraid a "told you so" is in
FR> order.
The Seeker is now One With the Divine. Which may be a good
thing, as no one should have to suffer, at least not any more
than necessary.
FR> Nevertheless it is truly fitting that a few thoughts are
FR> devoted to the phenomenon that we know as Roy Witt.
A few? Only a few? For a guy who devoted the majority
of his free time whiling away on a computer "talking" to
people he did not know or had no chance of meeting?
FR> Some will call him a colourful beacon that withered away, some
FR> will call him a champion of free speech … let me put it this
FR> way: I'll grant that he added a special flavour to the
FR> discussions, but often one we could do without.
I would never want to deny any individual the freedom to
enjoy expressing his/her self in the way they wanted to do
so. Even if I personally found such comments objectionable.
Censorship, especially in Fidonet, should be avoided by all
sysops, regardless of zone.
FR> To underscore his attitude, a verbatim quote of him discussing
FR> the Holloway-case dating from Jan.20 2008 reads:
RW>> There is no need to 'apologize' for reporting the
RW>> news, even if it's misleading to the public.
FR> Meaning "It's OK to lie".
Of course it is. Everybody lies. Not just politicians.
We all do, as we find it necessary or convenient.
FR> So he also lied a lot. He lied about a wife named Nancy which
FR> wasn't there (even posted photos of a female and alleged it
FR> was Nancy), he lied about working on the Boeing-727 program.
FR> He was intelligent enough but was a master of cross posting
FR> material about subjects from other sources on the internet
FR> while being completely unknowledgeable about the element
FR> discussed.
We are all tellers of big tales. The best of us, anyway.
That is why I especially enjoyed reading "The Adventures of
Pinocchio" - one of the greatest stories of all time, in
my opinion.
FR> He was not a constructive man, he was bitter, very
FR> confrontational and it sometimes got worse during the years,
FR> probably influenced by the dreaded disease that finally cut
FR> him down. He often was abusive and obscene, except for the
FR> subjects of 'car mechanics' and 'HAM radio'.
How we express ourselves is part of the human condition.
We all do so in different ways, but also in manners all too
familiar.
FR> I consider it a loss too in some ways.
A loss to his family and friends, perhaps. But how important
was he to the world? Probably not a lot, if at all. However,
it is not about greatness, in my opinion. It is about leaving
this world a better place for us all, or at least for those
who knew him, either directly or indirectly.
FR> The death of almost any human is a loss to someone or something, and so
bit
FR> it for Roy.
The world was a better place with the passing of Osama bin Laden.
The world was a better place with the passing of other bad people.
I do not consider Roy to have been a bad person, despite some of
the comments he had made in Fidonet. He most likely was a decent
guy, who tried to help his family and friends, in his own way.
I will not miss the likes of Osama bin Laden, etc. In fact,
I celebrated, as did many of my countrymen, when the news was
announced that ObL had been fed to the fishes in the sea.
We should celebrate the passing of Roy Witt, and remember
him for his words of wisdom, and perhaps even create an echo
in his honor. I would suggest Wittless, but I think that
name has already been taken ...
FR> He seemed to have a few good friends and at least a
FR> caring sister, that is more than a lot of other people can
FR> say. When he mentioned my name to others complete outside my
FR> list of contacts, it kinda baffled me. Did I influence Roy
FR> too? So, in his private circles, Roy will be missed.
You'd better hope he did not place your name on his tombstone ...
FR> The lack of his interventions lately was noticed on the wires
FR> and knowing his health issues, caused concern. There will be
FR> even more silence now. But in the end, Roy was an individual
FR> whose rampages were only possible because of an administration
FR> that allowed him to go unchecked for 20 years, or maybe more.
Roy's rantings never bothered me, despite some of the unkind
comments he had made. Making stuff up, demeaning others, etc.,
is not my cup of tea. Nor is it most sysops in Fidonet. But
Roy was Roy and that is how he was.
FR> If there is an afterlife and he gets to enjoy it, I'm certain
FR> he will be smirking from somewhere when noticing the
FR> discussion about his demise, turned-out to be one of the
FR> broadest sustained exchanges of the modern days of Fidonet.
I was at a casino the other day, sitting next to an elderly
lady who was playing the slots. She was truly enjoying herself,
playing the machine to her heart's delight. And then she turned
and looked at me, telling me "I hope they have slot machines in
heaven!" with her eyes sparkling in anticipation of hitting
another jackpot.
So don't laugh if God has set up a computer in heaven just
for Roy.
FR> Nevertheless, Roy … rest in peace. The final part of your life
FR> was not a happy one and nobody deserves this. I wish we would
FR> have known and got you some relief before transiting from
FR> Fido-life to Fido-lore. In a way I'm saddened we never were
FR> able to share a coffee or a pizza.
If there is a will, there is a way.
But Roy left no will, so there is no way.
--Lee
--- MesNews/1.08.05.00-gb
* Origin: news://felten.yi.org (2:203/2)
|