The Icon Bar: Drobe "closes"

Posted by John Hoare on 20:06, 20/9/2009 | Drobe, Media, RISC OS

And so farewell to another part of RISC OS; as noted in our forum, longtime RISC OS news and articles website Drobe has closed... or, rather, entered "archive mode". (Note to all other websites: please do this, rather than just disappear, taking your content with you.)

A full announcement is to follow, but it's been clear for a while now that the time to run the website just hasn't been there. Many thanks to Chris Williams, original founder Peter Price, and everyone else involved in Drobe over the years; for all the occasional controversy, Drobe did a fantastic job at covering RISC OS online, comprehensively and intelligently. And that's a harder and more time-consuming job than it looks.

UPDATE @ 22:40: And here is that announcement. Whilst the main news and articles service is ceasing, the plan is to build the site up as a RISC OS resource site; anybody interested in helping with this is encouraged to get in contact. User webspace will also continue, and a new message board is planned. Any future updates to the site will be announced on their new Twitter feed.

Drobe "closes"

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Michael Drake

Message #111406, posted by tlsa at 20:32, 20/9/2009

Web site

Posts: 1097

Thanks, Chris, for all the years of effort you put into Drobe. I think it was easily the best RISC OS web site ever. And thanks for keeping the site up in this form.

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Andrew Poole

Message #111409, posted by andypoole at 21:05, 20/9/2009, in reply to message #111406

Mouse enthusiast
Web
Twitter

Posts: 5558

Such a shame to see it go. Chris has done a fantastic job to keep it going all these years.

Andy.

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Paul Stewart

Message #111410, posted by sa110_mk at 21:12, 20/9/2009, in reply to message #111409

Member
Posts: 144

I used to check Drobe everyday for up-to-date news and comment in the little part of the world that RISC OS occupies. Very sad indeed to see this site close to new news/articles.

Chris, thanks for proving the service to us all over the past decade. Good luck for the future.

Paul

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Chris

Message #111411, posted by Chris at 21:19, 20/9/2009, in reply to message #111410

Member
Posts: 283

Real shame to see it go. Chris - it was an amazing site. Thanks for all the hard work.

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van Engelen Thomas

Message #111414, posted by highlandcattle at 21:40, 20/9/2009, in reply to message #111411

Member
Posts: 78

Now what?

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Eric Rucker

Message #111419, posted by bhtooefr at 22:01, 20/9/2009, in reply to message #111414

Member
Posts: 337

Well, there's still TIB and the Usenet groups...

This is... surprising, but at the same time, what was there for Drobe to report, really?

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Herbert zur Nedden

Message #111420, posted by hzn at 07:43, 21/9/2009, in reply to message #111419

Member
Posts: 11

... what was there for Drobe to report, really?

Indeed there is not much to write about but there is more happening than you seen on the portals...

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Jason Togneri

Message #111421, posted by filecore at 08:37, 21/9/2009, in reply to message #111420

The Iron Lord
and coming soon:
Haunted House

Posts: 3868

Ironically, the top of the "Related posts" links at the side of this was to "Maybe you should read drobe.co.uk instead".

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Andrew Rawnsley

Message #111422, posted by arawnsley at 09:57, 21/9/2009, in reply to message #111410

R-Comp chap
Posts: 600

This was quite a shock - I check drobe and iconbar several times each day (usually), and it came as quite a shock this morning. Not what I was hoping for two weeks before the show

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Steffen Huber

Message #111423, posted by hubersn at 10:07, 21/9/2009, in reply to message #111419

Member
Posts: 91

This is... surprising, but at the same time, what was there for Drobe to report, really?

How about the news about the forthcoming PostScript 3 printer driver?

See http://www.mw-software.com/software/ps3/ps3.html for details.

Overall, "not much news" is IMHO not a good reason to close a news portal - as long as there IS news once in a while.

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Simon Challands

Message #111424, posted by SimonC at 10:17, 21/9/2009, in reply to message #111423

Right on, Commander!

Posts: 398

"Not much news" is a good enough reason IMO when you're maintaining the site yourself - what's the point in putting the effort in when there's little to report?

This is a sad but understandable decision.

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Chris Williams

Message #111425, posted by diodesign at 11:01, 21/9/2009, in reply to message #111423

The Opposition

Posts: 269

Overall, "not much news" is IMHO not a good reason to close a news portal

In the case of Drobe, it wasn't.

Thanks for all the comments.

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Stephen Scott

Message #111427, posted by sa_scott at 11:35, 21/9/2009, in reply to message #111425

Member
Posts: 73

Chris, I'm sorry you've decided to call it a day. Drobe was always one of my top visits over the years, both here and abroad. Even though news has been more sporadic over the past year, myself and others still visited in case anything new was going on. That was a sure sign that you were doing something right!

All the best in your future journalistic endeavours.

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Bryan Hogan

Message #111431, posted by helpful at 12:27, 21/9/2009, in reply to message #111419

Member
Posts: 255

Well, there's still TIB and the Usenet groups...

We're doomed!

But seriously, I'd like to add my thanks for the excellent job Chris has done over the years. I'm going to have to come up with another site worthy of being my homepage.

what was there for Drobe to report, really?

The RISC OS London Show obviously

http://www.riscoslondonshow.co.uk/

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Peter Howkins

Message #111432, posted by flibble at 13:07, 21/9/2009, in reply to message #111431

Posts: 892

what was there for Drobe to report, really?
The RISC OS London Show obviously

http://www.riscoslondonshow.co.uk/

I would like to point out that Bryan is contractually obliged to mention the show in every post

I would also like to thank Chris, not least for the significant editing that my articles required

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ninjah

Message #111433, posted by ninj at 13:14, 21/9/2009, in reply to message #111406

Member
Posts: 288

Thanks from here too, Chris. For many years, Drobe has been my first port of call for RISC OS news. I hope it can become just as essential in its new form.

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keith dunlop

Message #111440, posted by epistaxsis at 15:21, 21/9/2009, in reply to message #111431

Posts: 159

what was there for Drobe to report, really?
The RISC OS London Show obviously

http://www.riscoslondonshow.co.uk/

I would also like to point out that Bryan is contractually obliged to mention the show in every post

Having said that - come anyway!

Thanks Chris for everything you've done - hopefully we'll see you around (did you know there's a RISC OS show on in london a week on Saturday?

) and can have some fun taking the piss

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Message #111446, posted by VincentVega at 18:25, 21/9/2009, in reply to message #111440

Member
Posts: 7

I've not used an Acorn/RISC OS machine in anger for over 10 years, but I've visited Drobe pretty much every day to keep abreast of any developments. It's sad to see it's no longer going to be maintained it really was a first rate resource for all things RISC OS.

(Whilst on the topic of shows, will there be a Midlands show this year?)

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Andrew

Message #111447, posted by andrew at 18:32, 21/9/2009, in reply to message #111446

Handbag Boi
Posts: 3439

Good idea about the message board.

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Paul Stewart

Message #111449, posted by sa110_mk at 18:46, 21/9/2009, in reply to message #111446

Member
Posts: 144

Midlands show is on this year. Same place as last year. Saturday December 5th, 2009. More details can be found here: -

http://www.mug.riscos.org/show09/MUGshow.html

Come along and have a good day out amongs friends.

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van Engelen Thomas

Message #111450, posted by highlandcattle at 19:18, 21/9/2009, in reply to message #111449

Member
Posts: 78

Guys,
Don't forget riscoscode.com Which is awesome in it's not-conformistic way

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Jason Togneri

Message #111451, posted by filecore at 19:49, 21/9/2009, in reply to message #111450

The Iron Lord
and coming soon:
Haunted House

Posts: 3868

What, a non-conformist RISC OS site? Shirley knot.

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Peter Howkins

Message #111460, posted by flibble at 21:49, 21/9/2009, in reply to message #111440

Posts: 892

And in case anyone hasn't noticed amongst all the (deserved) praise for Chris, there's a RISC OS show in London on Saturday 3rd October

There will be lego....

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Peter Howkins

Message #111461, posted by flibble at 22:31, 21/9/2009, in reply to message #111460

Posts: 892

And in case anyone hasn't noticed amongst all the (deserved) praise for Chris, there's a RISC OS show in London on Saturday 3rd October

There will be lego....

... I didn't post that ...

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Paul Stewart

Message #111463, posted by sa110_mk at 06:58, 22/9/2009, in reply to message #111460

Member
Posts: 144

Hope you will have spare for us all to play with!

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Bryan Hogan

Message #111465, posted by helpful at 12:13, 22/9/2009, in reply to message #111461

Member
Posts: 255

... I didn't post that ...

Maybe you are just *sooooo* excited about the forthcoming London show, that you posted without even realising it

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Jason Togneri

Message #111467, posted by filecore at 14:30, 22/9/2009, in reply to message #111465

The Iron Lord
and coming soon:
Haunted House

Posts: 3868

Sleep-posting. A new night-time horror.

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Peter Howkins

Message #111469, posted by flibble at 15:05, 22/9/2009, in reply to message #111465

Posts: 892

Maybe you are just *sooooo* excited about the forthcoming London show, that you posted without even realising it

Remind me to nuke the cookies off your laptop the next time I see it.

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Bryan Hogan

Message #111470, posted by helpful at 16:18, 22/9/2009, in reply to message #111469

Member
Posts: 255

Remind me to nuke the cookies off your laptop the next time I see it.

That will probably be at the London Show, which is on the 3rd October, in case you'd forgotten

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Blind Moose

Message #111471, posted by Acornut at 17:46, 22/9/2009, in reply to message #111463

No-eye-deer (No Idea)

Posts: 487

Hope you will have spare for us all to play with!

What kind of 'spare' are we talking about?

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