After 8 years dedicated to serving the Amiga community, Amiga.org's own Wayne Hunt announces his intentions to step down as Webmaster. Certain issues, both personal and professional play a part in his decision. In his stead, the Moderators and other Webmasters of Amiga.org will continue the site in the spirit it was intended. Their updated mission to provide a balanced resource for the Amiga Community on the Web. Wayne will continue hanging about, but as a Contributing Editor.
My Friends, one and all.
This is probably the strangest news item that I've ever written for this site, or any other. After 8+ years of working for the Amiga Community, I actually thought I'd never be writing this letter in the first place. Essentially speaking, there are things going on in both my personal life as well as professional life which make it difficult for me to give Amiga.org the priority, time, and effort it deserves.
On the personal edge, I have a few family obligations which must be met and they will be difficult to get through. Those who know me well know exactly what they are, but they don't need public attention here.
Professionally speaking, I have devoted the last 8+ years of my life to this community and site, while working 40+ hours per week at a regular job. Lately however, I find myself spending an average of 14 to 15 hours per day, every day behind the monitor for my livelyhood. Hopefully given that information, you might begin to understand that "vacations" from the site are starting to come too few and far between.
Enough of the personal stuff. Let's go into a little history lesson...
18 years ago while the 8086 was still unobtainable by most, Jay Miner and a talented crew of engineers handed the World the greatest computer ever known. In our fervor to embrace it, most of us were disowned by the Commodore 64 clubs of the time and the Amiga community was born. In 1991, as soon as it was practical, I started a Bulletin Board System (BBS) on a single phone line (my home phone) called "Wayne's World" to serve my local user group. That modest BBS turned into the club's board two years later, and moving to the Web in 1995 was a natural progression that I've never looked back on.
In 1985, each of us was literally entranced by the magic of the Amiga system. For most of us, even though the basics might have changed, and the reasons for still being here might have changed over the years, but the magic is still there. I haven't loved the hardware, or even the software in several years, but I have *always* loved the Community around it. I still do. There are very few of you, after all this time, that I would not consider a personal friend. I'm not really abandoning you, I've just decided to take a step back and follow a different road. A different light at the end of a tunnel to get to where I want to be in my life.
So, what happens now?
Over the last year, believe it or not, you have not been alone and neither have I. Amiga.org is not just me on a power trip, nor have most decisions and moderation been mine. Amiga.org "belongs to the people". It always has, despite the fact that everything has gotten so very factioned and political lately. Each of YOU determines what news gets submitted, what conversations are discussed, what links are added, and what images everyone sees. If you have seen an agenda, it is only because you have chosen to see it.
That being said however, there are a total of 10 people who've run Amiga.org behind the scenes and handle day-to-day moderation and help. I have been discussing this decision with our current staff, and most of them have been very helpful in determining a direction for the site. As of tomorrow, a couple of them will be taking on more responsibilities for the moderation and daily operations. The ONLY mandate I have passed along is that the site must remain neutral, and work to correct any perceived problems with the neutrality of Amiga.org.
Time pending, I will stay involved in the community by way of various related projects. In regards to Amiga.org, I intend to stay around as a contributing editor, as I will still very much have things to say in the future. It'd probably be best however if I didn't say them in the name of Amiga.org.
Do I have a dream?
Absolutely. Just as Amiga Inc originally saw past the classic Amiga platform, I see the potential for us all to return to being a community if we can learn to accept that we are all different, we all have different ideas, different needs, and different uses for a computer. If we can't, we will die. Where we once numbered in the tens of thousands or more, we are now mere thousands at best. Though most of us will disagree as to the cause, our tiny community is being ripped apart by the very people and arrogant pride that caused it's formation all those years ago.
Step back, smell the roses, and realize that there is more to "the Amiga" than loyalty to a name brand. There always has been. Sure, some would say it's a name. To some like me, it's always been about the community, to others, it's the magic in the feeling you got when you first owned one. Whatever your reasons, live and let live. We are all friends here, or at least we once were. The fact that we have good alternatives and positive things are now happening for the future is the absolute opposite of reason to tear the community apart...
Have fun, be safe, and prepare for the good times, down whatever road you travel. See you at AmiWest?
