Hello gembud community,
As you are likely aware, for some time now the Unidata Program Center has
had very few resources available to maintain or support a distribution of
GEMPAK. The tragic loss of one of our software developers in mid-2019 left
us with very little GEMPAK coding expertise, and we have been providing
minimal support since that time. This, coupled with the emergence of a
date-based bug on January 1, 2021, has led us to re-evaluate our ability to
continue supporting the package.
With the encouragement of the Unidata Users Committee, Unidata staff have
begun working to transition from "in-house" support for GEMPAK to a
community-support model. Our rationale is described more fully in this
post on the News@Unidata blog:
A Proposal for Community Support of GEMPAK
<https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/blogs/news/entry/a-proposal-for-community-support>
The plan for community support of GEMPAK relies on volunteer contributions
of time and expertise by interested individuals. Daryl Herzmann at Iowa
State University has agreed to serve as the initial coordinator of the
community's efforts, with the aim of organizing a self-governing and
self-sustaining effort quickly. Daryl's contact information is in the
posting; please contact him directly if you would like to contribute to
this community effort.
The Unidata Program pledges to support GEMPAK's community-based maintenance
team in any ways we reasonably can. (Some of our ideas for such support,
including continued operation of the gembud mailing list, are outlined in
the post.) We thank you for your support and participation on this mailing
list over the years, and we hope that we can continue working with you to
develop and support software tools for our community.
The Unidata Program Center Staff
--
Douglas Dirks (*He/Him/His*)
Unidata Community Services
ddirks@xxxxxxxx <ddirks@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> * 303-497-8657
I acknowledge that the land I live and work on is the Traditional Territory
of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Ute. Colorado's Front Range
<https://native-land.ca/> is a contemporary and traditional site of trade
and gathering for many Indigenous people.
