While unfortunate, I, for one, am not surprised by this. The IRLP inner circle is very resistant to change, and seems quite happy to exist as they did in the 1990s. With the elimination of parallel ports in many newer computers, the reluctance to adopt a USB-based interface, and an unfriendly attitude toward other technologies, IRLP faces certain extinction.
Personally, I believe the parallel board is being sold by Dave C until he runs out of stock. Not only does he sell these to hams, but also commercially (as ROIP).
As some of you may know, I received a similar letter from Dave C. for publishing a compatible IRLP board schematic on my web site in 2008. He demanded that I remove the IRLP name from the schematic, so I did. It's now called a PLRI board. I just don't agree with the idea of selling $20 worth of parts to hams for $200, and the prohibition of homebrewed boards..
With the discontinuation of IRLP from app_rpt, is there any chance of legacy parallel port support? This might make it easier for IRLP stations to switch over to app_rpt.. It would be especially nice for the AUX1,2,3 ports, but I wouldn't complain if PTT and COS were also supported. Perhaps these stations could use their IRLP boards along with a "blob" USB fobs for audio only, since PTT and COS would be difficult to add?
73,
Kyle
K0KN
--- Original Message ---
From: Jim Duuuude
Subject: [App_rpt-users] Discontinuance of IRLP support
Per request of Dave Cameron, VE7LTD, support and functionality for
IRLP connectivity is officially dropped from the app_rpt project.
It is being removed from the SVN today, and will no longer be present
in any further releases.
If you have IRLP configured on your system, PLEASE REMOVE IT!
Do NOT make any further connections into the IRLP network from
an Allstar Link node (or anything else running app_rpt), as that
is now officially against the rules on their network.
Thank you for your
cooperation.
JIM WB6NIL
