I'd like to add my voice to the appreciation for what Tony has provided us.  If
I had more time, I'd contribute too, but I am busily trying to get my model
railroad going which includes track-laying, structure-building,
scenery-building, as well as building the PIC-based control systems - so I'm
spread pretty thin.

Way-to-go Tony :-)

David

Tom Messenger wrote:

> At 10:37 AM 5/31/01 +1000, TONY NIXON wrote:
> >Hi all,
> >
> >I just thought I'd put in a few words to the discussion.
>
> ---some stuff snipped out---
>
> >I guess the initial "gung ho - in we go" attitude dies away when the
> >enormity of the problem starts to arise out of the settled dust and it
> >becomes near impossible to juggle time to devote to the project.
>
> ---lots snipped---
>
> >This all get's back to a group effort, but as history shows, not many
> >are willing to engage in it long term. It's got to be a labour of love
> >for it to work, not a quest for money and that may be the killer.
> >
> >For my part, it is a labour of love.
>
> Here's what The American Heritage. Dictionary of the English Language,
> Third Edition  ) 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company has to say about that
> curious phrase "gung ho":
>
>         gung ho (gyng4 ho4) adjective, slang.
>         Extremely enthusiastic and dedicated.
>         [Earlier Gung Ho, motto of certain U.S. marine forces
>         in Asia during World War II, from Chinese (Mandarin)
>         gonghi, to WORK TOGETHER (short for gongyhhizurshh,
>         Chinese Industrial Cooperative Society) :
>         gong, work + hi, together.]
>
>         (from my online dictionary, capital letter emphasis, mine)
>
> Tony couldn't have said it better. Gung ho, indeed. It originally meant "to
> work together"; and as Tony pointed out, not enough are willing to go for
> it in the long term.  Of course, software projects like the 'Universal
> programmer' can't really be distributed very well among the masses like
> Linux; rather, it's something that requires one person to do the lions
> share of the work. And a lions share it is... as many have recently pointed
> out on this list.
>
> For myself, I am *REALLY GRATEFUL* to Tony for making his ROMZAP software
> freely available to anyone who wants to download it.  Some people just
> naturally write working code right out of their fingertips into the
> computer. Others like me need to burn their pic-chips 1000 times to get a
> program working. The idea of having to buy 3 or 4 UVEPROM's and wait 20
> minutes for them to get erased just doesn't work for a dumb analog guy like
> me.  If Tony charges for some of his products, he damn well has earned it.
> For me, I can type come code changes, click my mouse 3 or 4 times and bang,
> another version is downloaded into my target system. No, this isn't how
> professional coders do it but as I said above, I am *REALLY GRATEFUL* to
> Tony for making this available.  If you haven't tried it, check it out; you
> might really like it too.
>
> Thanks Tony!
>
> Best regards,
> Tom M.
>
> --
> http://www.piclist.com hint: To leave the PICList
> mailto:piclist-unsubscribe-request@mitvma.mit.edu

--
http://www.piclist.com hint: To leave the PICList
mailto:piclist-unsubscribe-request@mitvma.mit.edu