[wfc] The end of the road

[Arnold Rots]

You are right - the dismissal of the WFC does not imply the elimination of
WGAS.
WGAS will continue to exist.
And yes, I assumed it went without saying that members of the former WFC
will
remain involved in FITS matters - note Lucio's announcement on FITSBITS.

Cheers,

  - Arnold

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arnold H. Rots                                          Chandra X-ray
Science Center
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory                   tel:  +1 617 496
7701
60 Garden Street, MS 67                                      fax:  +1 617
495 7356
Cambridge, MA 02138
arots at cfa.harvard.edu
USA
http://hea-www.harvard.edu/~arots/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



On Wed, Mar 26, 2014 at 12:16 PM, Rob Seaman <seaman at noao.edu> wrote:

> There's a blurring of lines here that could benefit from clarification.
>  What is the relationship between the (former) North American FITS
> Committee and the AAS Working Group on Astronomical Software (WGAS):
>
> http://aas.org/comms/working-group-astronomical-software-wgas
>
> On the IAU side there is a similar blurring between Commission 5 and the
> IAU FITS working group.
>
> In particular an action of an IAU WG (to say it will no longer pay
> attention to regional subcommittees) is not directly pertinent to a AAS
> committee or subcommittee.  By all means the AAS WGAS should go along with
> dissolving its advisory role to the IAU FITSWG, but the WGAS does not
> therefore cease to exist.
>
> I understand there have also been changes contemplated to WGAS, perhaps
> eventually a promotion to AAS divisional level, but the current membership
> serves until Dec 2014 according to the web page.
>
> Suggest whatever the process is that it be a coherent and open one.
>
> Rob
> --
>
>
> On Mar 26, 2014, at 8:37 AM, Robert J. Hanisch <hanisch at stsci.edu> wrote:
>
>  While it may be the end of the road for the Committee per se, it is not
> yet the end of the road for FITS or a rejection of your interest in it!
>
>  Please participate in the public discussion of the FITS time
> specifications discussions via the new format.
>
>  Thanks,
> cheers,
> Bob
>
>   From: Arnold Rots <arots at cfa.harvard.edu>
> Date: Wednesday, 26 March 2014 11:16 AM
> To: "wfc at nrao.edu" <wfc at nrao.edu>
> Cc: "Robert J. Hanisch" <hanisch at stsci.edu>, Frossie Economou <
> frossie at noao.edu>
> Subject: The end of the road
>
>        Dear colleagues,
>
>  I suspect that most of you are aware of the vote that took place in
> December 2013,
>  but I realized that I have been seriously amiss in not passing the result
> on to you
>  officially.
>
>  The IAU FWG voted in favor of the change in its voting rules. Although
> that sounds
>  rather innocuous, it has a dramatic impact on the AAS's WGAS FITS
> Committee, as we
>  are officially known; more colloquially, we were the North American
> regional FITS
>  committee.
>  One of the changes in the IAU Working Group's voting rules was the
> elimination of the
>  regional FITS committees. Ergo, we do not exist anymore.
>
>  Thus. it is my task now to convey to you that we have been dismissed.
>  I would like to thank all of you (and by implication our past members)
> for your service.
>  It has been an important service; our committee has served the community
> well and
>  provided a meaningful contribution during an era when global
> connectivity was not
>  what it is today. The landscape in digital astronomy is dramatically
> different from what
>  it was several decades ago when the WFC was constituted and that change
> (to which
>  we did contribute as well) has made changes in how we develop our
> standards inevitable.
>  Part of that is the obsolescence of the regional committees.
>
>  Thank you again and au revoir!
>
>    - Arnold
>
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Arnold H. Rots                                          Chandra X-ray
> Science Center
> Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory                   tel:  +1 617 496
> 7701
> 60 Garden Street, MS 67                                      fax:  +1 617
> 495 7356
> Cambridge, MA 02138
> arots at cfa.harvard.edu
> USA
> http://hea-www.harvard.edu/~arots/
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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